New Delhi, Nov 18 (UNI) Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday called on the Indian industry to expand the country's growing global footprint and capitalise on the opportunity to engage with the world through transparent and honest business practices.
"India is looked upon as a trusted and valuable partner in global resilient supply chains as it rebooted very quickly post the lockdown and fulfilled all its international commitments, especially on the services front and merchandise trade," the Minister said at the Global Economic Policy Summit 2021, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
He elaborated on the three mantras in the post pandemic era to enhance India's global footprint. The first is to look beyond cost and strengthen resilient ecosystems in businesses and in work so that the country is prepared for any future instances such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The second, he identified, was accelerating India’s integration into global value chains by focusing on innovation and sustainability. The third mantra was to enhance the role of private sector through greater collaboration with the Government and public private partnerships and yet, leaving the work of running businesses to companies.
Goyal said as India looks towards a transparent trading system, WTO would need to "look at the way it has been running its affairs," and the world needs to assess which is a developing country and which is not.
"Developed countries make big promises on climate action and sustainability goals as in COP 26. Have they done enough, have they fulfilled their obligations?," asked Goyal.
The Minister highlighted the thrust given to infrastructure development and the slew of reform measures undertaken by the Government for promoting industry at scale such as the PLI schemes and industrial parks policy, which have helped India earn the trust of investors.
Referring to India's rising sectors such as intellectual property, start-up eco system and markets for newer and non-traditional products such as technical textiles or man-made fibres, Goyal emphasised on transforming the country into an innovation powerhouse and looking at enhancing the scale of automation.
"In an economy like India, there are artisans and handicrafts, where automation is not possible. We should look at re-skilling them, to make them competitive," said Goyal.
Ajay Shriram, former President of CII and Chairman, DCM Shriram, pointed out that India has a unique opportunity to position itself in the overarching dynamics of the world and become one of the key nodes of global value chains and enhance its global footprint.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, assured Industry’s commitment towards partnering with the Government to enhance India's global presence.
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