Japan, Australia, India address supply chain issues to avoid reliance on China

Japan, Australia, and India launched a new framework to mutually strengthen their supply chains of cars, medical equipment, and other products in a veiled attempt at relying less on China.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/04/7e22169a3843-japan-australia-india-launch-network-to-strengthen-supply-chains.html

Japan, Australia, India launch network to strengthen supply chains

Japan, Australia, and India launched a new framework to mutually strengthen their supply chains of cars, medical equipment, and other products in a veiled attempt at relying less on China.

The three countries have been addressing the vulnerabilities in the global manufacturing system.

The framework, dubbed the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, aims to attain a "strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the region and achieve sustainable growth in the Indo-Pacific region by drawing in India.

India had withdrawn from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a multilateral trade pact involving 15 Asia-Pacific countries, including China and South Korea.

Japan's Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama and his counterparts Dan Tehan of Australia and Piyush Goyal of India said the initiative will boost the diversification of trade and investment opportunities and enhanced utilization of digital technology.

The ministers also recognized that the pandemic had revealed supply chain vulnerabilities and emphasized the need to implement risk management and business continuity plans to avoid such disruptions.

The pandemic caused Japanese businesses to suffer shortages of auto and electronic parts from China while also disrupting the stable supply of medical equipment.