Industry Minister Piyush – The Commerce Ministry on Saturday (November 15, 2025) said Venezuela has expressed keen interest in enhancing cooperation with India in the critical minerals sector and attracting investments. This was discussed at a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Venezuela’s Eco-Mining Development Minister Hector Silva in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam.

“During the meeting, the Venezuelan side expressed interest in enhancing economic engagement with India beyond the oil sector, including cooperation in critical minerals and attracting Indian investments,” it said. Shri Goyal stressed the need to reactivate the India-Venezuela Joint Committee mechanism, which last met a decade ago. He said ONGC’s ongoing operations in Venezuela provide scope for deeper cooperation in mining and exploration.

He suggested that Venezuela could consider accepting the Indian Pharmacopoeia to facilitate pharmaceutical trade and highlighted opportunities for enhancing cooperation in the automobile sector. In a separate statement, the ministry said National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited, Logistics Data Services Limited and Andhra Pradesh government signed an MoU to digitalize the logistics landscape in Andhra Pradesh by leveraging the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP). As part of the initiative, an integrated digital platform will be developed and implemented to provide real-time visibility into the state’s logistics operations and performance metrics to government and private stakeholders in Andhra Pradesh.

The platform aims to enhance coordination, improve efficiency and aid informed decision making across sectors, enabling stakeholders to access real-time information seamlessly.