 "Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Reuters")
Venezuela has shown strong interest in expanding cooperation with India in the critical minerals sector and attracting Indian investments, the commerce ministry said on Saturday. The issue was discussed during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Venezuela’s Minister of Ecological Mining Development Hector Silva.
“During the meeting, the Venezuelan side expressed interest in expanding economic engagement with India beyond the oil sector, including cooperation in critical minerals and attracting Indian investment,” the ministry said.
Goyal stressed the need to revive the India–Venezuela Joint Committee Mechanism, whose last meeting took place a decade ago. He also noted that ONGC’s ongoing operations in Venezuela offer opportunities for deeper collaboration in mining and exploration.
Goyal suggested that Venezuela consider accepting the Indian Pharmacopeia to boost pharmaceutical trade and pointed to potential areas of cooperation in the automobile sector.
In a separate statement, the ministry said National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, Logistics Data Services Limited and the Andhra Pradesh government have signed an MoU to digitise the state’s logistics ecosystem through the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP).
As part of the initiative, an integrated digital platform will be developed to give government and private stakeholders real-time visibility into Andhra Pradesh’s logistics operations and performance indicators. The platform aims to improve coordination, enhance efficiency and support informed decision-making with seamless access to real-time data.