Union Minister Goyal urges commerce ministers of neighbouring countries to cooperate for upliftment of subcontinent

New Delhi, 14 Dec (KNN) Union Minister of Commerce, Piyush Goyal has called upon fellow Ministers of neighbouring countries to work together to transform the subcontinent. 

He was addressing the “CII: Partnership Summit -Ministerial Meeting” virtually from New Delhi today. 

He also 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, said the press release. 

“India is looking for FTAs with like-minded nations with transparency and mutual benefit and growth as key pillars,” the Commerce Minister said.  

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.   

Pointing out that India’s voice was visible in the G20 declaration this year, which successfully amplified the voice of the developing countries of the world, the Minister said that the world is acknowledging India’s leadership. 

He 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. 

He outlined 6 areas on which India is focussing to build a sustainable, inclusive and resilient ecosystem for future partnerships; Trade Agreements, Investments, India’s strengths as a supply chain alternative, Ease of Doing Business, Innovation and Sustainability. 

Underscoring India’s initiatives in investment promotion, the Commerce Minister 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, etc. were being executed. 

He said that India’s diverse business landscape, skilled workforce, relatively low labour cost and initiatives to boost infrastructure such as National Infrastructure Pipeline, GatiShakti, National Monetisation Plan would certainly give a fillip to investments and yield good returns. 

The summit was attended by Finance Minister and Commerce Minister of various countries.