Davos Agenda : World Economic Forum’s Virtual Summit

Pm Shri Narendra Modi's 'State of the World' Address

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered a 'State of the World' special address at the World Economic Forum's virtual summit ''Davos Agenda" on 17th January 2022. Heads of State and Governments as well as CEOs of major multi-national companies and other leaders gathered for the virtual summit - a dialogue on critical collective challenges and how to address them. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the three-day event was held virtually this year. This dialogue served as a springboard to the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum slated to be held in Davos later this year. Below are the key highlights of the PM's speech:

'One Earth, One Health'

During the Corona time, we have seen how India, following the vision of 'One Earth, One Health', is saving crores of lives by providing necessary medicines and vaccines to many countries. Today India is the world's third largest pharma producer; it's a pharmacy to the world. Today, India is among those countries of the world whose health professionals and doctors are winning everyone's trust through their sensitivity and expertise.

India's Robust IT Sector

India is sending record software engineers to the world. More than 50 lakh software developers are working in India. Today India has the third largest number of Unicorns in the world. More than 10 thousand startups have been registered in the last 6 months. Today India has a huge, secure and successful digital payments platform. Last month alone, 4.4 billion transactions have been done through Unified Payments Interface in India.

Digital Revolution

The digital infrastructure that India has developed and adopted over the years has become a huge strength of India today. Technological solutions like Arogya-Setu App for tracking Corona Infections and CoWin Portal for Vaccination are a matter of pride for India. The online facilities offered by India's CoWin portal - from slot booking to certificate generation, has caught the attention of people from bigger countries as well.

Ease of Doing Business

India is promoting Ease of Doing Business, minimizing government interference. India has made its corporate tax the most competitive in the world by simplifying and reducing it. Last year alone, we have eliminated more than 25 thousand compliances. India has regained the confidence of the business community by reforming measures like retrospective taxes. India has also deregulated many sectors like Drones, Space, Geo-spatial mapping. India has made major reforms in the outdated telecom regulations related to IT sector and BPO.

Trusted Partner in Global Supply Chain

India is committed to becoming a trusted partner in the world in global supplychains. We are making way for free-trade agreement with many countries. The ability of Indians to adopt innovation, new technology; the spirit of entrepreneurship of Indians; can give new energy to every global partner of ours.

Best Time to Invest in India

This is the best time to invest in India. Entrepreneurship among Indian youth is at a new height today. In 2014, where there were few hundred registered Start-Ups in India, their numbers have crossed 60 thousand today. It also has more than 80 Unicorns, of which more than 40 were formed in 2021. Just as expat Indians are showing their skills on the global stage, in the same way Indian youth are fully ready, geared up to give new heights to all your businesses in India.

India's commitment to deep economic reforms is another major reason that is making India the most attractive destination for investment. During the Corona period, when the world was focusing on interventions like Quantitative Easing Program, India paved the way for reforms. The biggest projects to modernize digital and physical infrastructure got unprecedented momentum in the Corona times itself. An investment of $1.3 trillion is being made, especially on connectivity infrastructure. Through innovative financing tools like asset monetization a target to generate $80 billion has been set.

Make in India, Make for the World

While following the path of self-reliance, India's focus is not only on easing the processes, but also on incentivizing investment and production. With this approach, Production Linked Incentive schemes worth $26 billion have been implemented in 14 sectors. We are moving ahead with the spirit of Make in India, Make for the World. Along with telecom, insurance, defence, aerospace, now there are limitless possibilities offered by India in the field of semiconductors as well.

Clean, Green, Sustainable, Reliable Growth

Today India is drafting policies, taking decisions with regard to the present as well as the goals of the next 25 years. This period of growth will also be Green, it will also be Clean, it will also be Sustainable, it will also be Reliable. We have also set a target of net zero emissions by 2070. Our commitment to tackle Climate Change is 100 percent. Initiatives like International Solar Alliance and Coalition for DisasterResilient Infrastructure for Climate Adaptation are proof of this. As a result of the efforts of the past years, today 40% of our Energy Mix is coming from non-fossil fuel sources. We have already achieved the commitments made by India in Paris, 9 years before their target.

New Challenges call for New Avenues, New Resolutions

Today, with the change in the global order, the challenges we have been facing as a global family are also increasing, for example Cryptocurrency. The kind of technology that is associated with it, the decisions taken by a single country will be inadequate to deal with its challenges. We have to have a common mindset. But looking at the global scenario today, the question is whether multilateral organizations are ready to deal with the new world order and new challenges; is that strength left in them? It is the responsibility of every democratic country to emphasize reforms so that they can tackle the challenges of present and future. In the midst of new challenges, the world today needs new avenues, new resolutions. Today, every country in the world needs cooperation with each other more than ever before.

(DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of Prime Minister's remarks.

Original remarks were delivered in Hindi. Source: mea.gov.in)