‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ or ‘the world is one family’ ,” said Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India and the Chairman of the CII Partnership Summit 2021, while addressing the Inaugural Session of Partnership Summit 2021, organized by CII in association with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from 13 – 15 December 2021.
The Minister invoked the spirit of meaningful partnerships and collaborations between nations to collectively address people’s problems, forge fair trade deals, remove trade barriers and form a positive global environment based on trust.
The Minister said that the Government of India, since the emergence of the pandemic, has worked towards vaccinating its own population and also exported vaccines and medical equipment to 150 countries, thus ensuring availability at affordable prices. India has also ensured food supplies, while running the world’s largest food grain programme at home for 19 months and the world’s largest free healthcare programme. It has met all international commitments in services, he added.
The Government is negotiating comprehensive agreements, including FTAs and economic partnerships cutting across sectors with the UAE, UK, Israel, Canada and other nations. Along with these, the Government is also in extensive consultations with the WTO to bring together like minded nations to forge a robust trade ecosystem and remove trade barriers, he mentioned.
Shri Goyal highlighted that the Government of India is aggressively pursuing ambitious climate change goals including adoption of renewable energy, creating net zero India by 2070, creating a thriving digital environment, and encouraging good manufacturing practices. The Government has also come up with ground-breaking reform measures including an attractive corporate tax regime, on the Ease of Doing Business front, and National Single Window System, amongst others.
Mr Joao Rossi, Vice Minister for External Trade and International Economic Affairs, Brazil mentioned that Brazil is negotiating FTAs with Canada, South Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore, amongst other countries and looked forward to talks regarding trade agreements with India.
H.E. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, UAE mentioned that the UAE and India are in the process of finalising an economic partnership. He added that the current pace of economic activities is creating unprecedented opportunities in the market.
The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, Canada mentioned India and Canada share important people to people ties and have supported each other through the pandemic. Partnerships for both nations could thrive on start-ups and innovation, agri, food, and healthtech, amongst other areas.
Mr T V Narendran, President, Confederation of Indian Industry laid some imperatives for partnerships across nations to address issues such as distribution and supply of vaccines, and monetary and fiscal support by Governments. Issues like shortage of workers, semi conductors, supporting small enterprises, digital infrastructure and forging global partnerships are also required to support low income groups.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, welcomed the panellists and said the Partnership Summit 2021 is based on the pillars of growth, competitiveness, sustainability and technology. The Summit comprises of 9 overall tracks, viz. growth, G20, competitiveness, trade, investments, technology, sustainability, social dimension and geo-politics, out of which we hope that a new roadmap would emerge for global collaborations.
13 December 2021