Washington, Oct 24 (IANS): US Trade Representative Michael Froman will host the ninth ministerial-level meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) here on Oct 29 to discuss how to expand trade and investment through forward-looking policy initiatives.

The TPF provides the venue for evaluating progress that has been made on trade and investment issues between the US and India at the ministerial level, according to an official announcement.

"I look forward to hosting Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a productive meeting about bringing our countries into greater trade partnership," said Froman.

This dialogue comes on the heels of President Barack Obama's recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi "where they discussed how partnership between the United States and India on trade and investment can contribute to new economic growth and job creation opportunities for our peoples," he noted.

"The US-India Trade Policy Forum will allow the United States and India to advance on-going bilateral efforts to expand trade and investment through forward-looking policy initiatives that can benefit our manufacturers, workers, innovators, service providers, farmers, and ranchers," Froman said.

The US-India TPF is co-chaired by USTR Michael Froman and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, and is the premier bilateral forum for the discussion and resolution of trade and investment issues between the US and India.

Discussions in the TPF are generally organized around key issue areas, including intellectual property, opening investment in manufacturing, agriculture, and services.

US goods and private services trade with India totalled $102.8 billion in 2014. India is currently the US' 11th largest goods trading partner with $66.8 billion in total (two ways) goods trade during 2014. Trade in private services with India (exports and imports) totalled $36 billion in 2014.