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India and Germany have signed a work plan for cooperation to strengthen quality infrastructure, reduce technical barriers to trade, enhance product safety and strengthen consumer protection. The areas identified for collaboration include mobility, energy, circular economy, smart farming/ agriculture, medical devices, digitalisation (artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and other new technology areas), machinery safety, medical devices and equipment and market surveillance. The work plan 2022 was signed during 8th annual meeting of the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure, led by the Indian Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

India's consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh has underscored the importance of a well-established and robust quality infrastructure which consists of standardisation, technical regulations and market surveillance for the success of the government's initiative to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. Stating that Germany is an important and trusted partner for India, the secretary expressed hope that the Work Plan 2022 signed would pave the way forward for collaboration towards well-functioning and resilient systems of quality infrastructures. He urged involvement of all the relevant stakeholders, such as different ministries, standardisation bodies and industry to learn from each other's approaches on different aspects of quality infrastructure.

Besides, Deniela Bronstrup, Director General, Digital and Innovation Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), said despite the challenging period, both sides continued cooperation under the framework of the Working Group. He stated this is a great sign of strong relations between Germany and India and that both sides can draw benefits from exchange of information and expertise on issues of mutual interest to support bilateral trade.