Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday described protectionism as one the main challenges faced by the world. “One of our greatest challenges today is that the world has increasingly started looking inwards,” he said at Asean-India business meet and expo organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
In these times, Asean members and India represent an aspirational world — about two billion people, he said.
He said both India and Asean were fast-growing regions in a world which was slowing down. These represented areas that were looking outward for growth. He stated that there is a great opportunity for investment in India and prospects to further trade and investment relations with Asean, especially in sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing and services.