Addressing the “CII: Partnership Summit -Ministerial Meeting” virtually from New Delhi today, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles urged fellow Ministers of neighbouring countries to work together to transform the subcontinent.

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As per the press release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Minister called for enhancing India’s economic ties with the nations of the Southern African Customs Union which consists of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. He said that India is looking for FTAs with like-minded nations with transparency and mutual benefit and growth as key pillars.  He added that India is also reviewing existing FTAs with ASEAN, Japan, Korea to strengthen them and forging enhanced trade alliances with countries like UAE, EU, UK, Israel, Australia, Canada, Russia, Oman and the GCC.  

Goyal emphasized on the fact that during COVID-19 pandemic, India has emerged as a source of resilience and a trusted Partner and added that we had tried to the best of our ability to meet all our international service commitments.

He further said that during the course of the pandemic, India had not only become self-sufficient in production of critical medical supplies, PPEs, testing kits, masks etc. but had also supplied these necessities to nations in need. He highlighted India’s one-of-its-kind vaccination drive, through which 1.3 billion doses of vaccine have already been administered.  

Goyal said that Indian economy has recovered sharply and added that the rising economic indicators point towards ‘an India shaping up for a growth decade’. The Minister said that India had seen a GDP growth of 8.4% in Q2, high exports, high FDI and large amounts of investments being done by Indian companies in other nations, he urged the Ministers to invite Indian companies to invest in their economies and help create jobs.

Underscoring India’s initiatives in investment promotion, Goyal said that the government has been inviting businesses of other countries to seize investment opportunity as ‘India is the place to be’ with its accessibility, choice, openness and opportunities.

Listing potential sectors for investments including healthcare, infrastructure, defence, energy, civil aviation, insurance and Technology, the Minister said that various schemes to facilitate trade and investment, including PLI Scheme, Liberalised FDI Policy and others were being executed.

Speaking of India’s quest to improve Ease of Doing Business, he said that initiatives like the National Single Window System and the Industrial Land Bank were helping improve the ease of doing business significantly.

Emphasising on India’s initiatives in the direction of Sustainable Development, Goyal said that India will reach its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and meet 50% of its energy requirements from Renewable Energy, one of the world’s most ambitious Renewable energy programs. It may be noted that India has pledged to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2070.  

The path to economic growth must be intertwined with a commitment to sustainability. The Minister said that as India celebrates ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to mark 75 years of Independence, it is also preparing a blueprint for next 25 years to determine where India will be at 100 years of independence.  He invited Ministers participating to join hands with India to bolster our collaboration in Research and Development, innovation, Intellectual Property Rights and others.

Speaking of India’s confident march on the path of rapid growth with ‘Sabka Prayas’ of 130 crore citizens, Goyal said that this is the time to be in India and invest in India!