NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his virtual address at the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers’ Meeting in Jaipur on Thursday, said that India is seen as a combination of openness, opportunities and options. “During the last nine years, India has become the world’s fifth largest economy, thanks to our ‘reform, perform and transform’ mantra of works since 2014,” Modi said.
The meeting was held as part of the upcoming G20 Summit in Delhi from September 8-10.
Outlining the Indian economy, the PM said that global optimism and confidence in the Indian economy has increased with the massive rise in competitiveness and enhanced transparency. “India, because of sustained efforts, has moved away from the red tape to red carpet and liberalised its FDI flows. Initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atma Nirbhar’ have given a tremendous boost to the country’s manufacturing potential,” Modi said.
He said that the government is committed to make India the third-largest global economy in the next few years. “We must build resilient and inclusive global value chains that can withstand future shocks. In this context, India’s proposal to create a Generic Framework for Mapping Global Value Chain is important,” Modi said, adding that this is aimed at assessing vulnerabilities, minimising risks and enhancing resilience.
He also spoke about India’s open network for digital commerce, which is proving a game changer in the digital market ecosystem.
Sharing the country’s concerns in trade investment, Modi went on to say that India had advocated the concerns of the Global South at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference. “India believes in a rule-based, open, inclusive, multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core,” he said, stressing on the need to pay more attention to MSMEs that plays a deciding role in global economy.
Dwelling upon what India has done in this sector, the PM said that India has integrated MSMEs into public procurement through online platform Government e-marketplace. “Our country has been working with MSME sector to adopt the ethos of ‘Zero Defect’ and ‘Zero Effect’ on the environment,” he said, adding that it has become a collective responsibility as one family to restore confidence in international trade and investment processes.
