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Minister of Commerce & Industry lauds FICCI's efforts in making India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai a grand success; hopes to replicate the India Pavilion as a permanent feature at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi

Dec 17, 2021

USD 1 trillion exports of services and merchandise likely by 2030

NEW DELHI, 17 December 2021: Mr Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Govt of India today lauded FICCI's efforts for the unparalleled success of the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. "The India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai has been a matter of pride for every Indian and I would like to place on record my deep appreciation for the work that FICCI has done to make the India Pavilion happen," said the Minister.

Addressing the 'FICCI's Annual Convention & 94th AGM' on the theme India Beyond 75, Mr Goyal said that although organising the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai has been a tough task through COVID and the last two years, fighting against all odds, it is one of the most visible and highly visited pavilions that has been appreciated by all those who have had a chance to visit the Expo. I am hoping to duplicate that experiment at the Pragati Maidan in India so that we will have a permanent location that can become a matter of pride for every Indian who visits Delhi," he added.

Speaking about the industry, Mr Goyal said that industry, broadly, has redeemed itself well post the COVID era. While there are still a few sectors that are under stress, we (the government and the industry) need to work together to get them back in action. Aspiring for USD 1 trillion of exports of services and merchandise each by 2030 is possible, he emphasized.

Mr Goyal said that the world looks upon India as a trusted partner today, particularly for what we did during the COVID period. India met all international commitments that Indian industry or businesses had made; the world today realises that they can bank on India. "This is a great achievement of the Indian industry, and I am sure that it will hold us in good stead over the years to come. Our efforts have been appreciated by the world leaders at G-20, and by trade ministers across different fora," he said.

The government, said the Minister, is trying to propagate focus on the highest level of integrity, minimum government maximum governance, making life easy for all citizens, and making businesses easy to work in. "The fact that the government is willing to learn new ideas, engage with the industry at every level, and work as an enabler, is a sign that the country has good times ahead of us," he added.

"India in 2047 should be a transformative change from our current thinking. We must set aggressive and accelerated goals and business and industry will also have to look at extremely large targets into the future," he said.

Mr Goyal said that the youth of India and start-ups have done us proud. The world is looking at us and the country needs to start looking at big picture ideas and opportunities. "We (the government) are looking at getting more opportunities for our Indian businesses and I have no doubt that this will give us a huge leg up both in international trade, as well as in India. For economies of scale, where we produce for larger levels, we will be able to bring down costs and improve quality of our products sold within the country. Between commerce and industry, the coordination and collaboration today is immense," he added.

Speaking about FTAs, the Minister said that the Commerce Ministry is looking to add a 1-2 more FTAs to the existing six. "The Ministry is looking at the opportunities and other engagements with the UAE, which will be announced shortly. We are working on an India Mart in the UAE, where number of stores can display Indian products, huge amount of warehousing can be picked up at affordable prices and that can become a base to spread across all of Africa, Middle East, and other parts of the world," he added.

He urged the textile industry to look for global opportunities. "There is a trillion-dollar opportunity awaiting us in the world market. The potential for technical textiles, man-made fibre is tremendous. It is the largest job-creating sector in India after farming and we will have to be more ambitious and looking at grasping these opportunities," Mr Goyal stated.

Mr Uday Shankar, President, FICCI, complimented the Minister for his far-sightedness for the immense success of the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Further, elaborating on the growth of the economy, Mr Shankar said that among others, the services sector has witnessed an expansion for the fourth straight month in November - it grew at second fastest pace in more than a decade. "India attracted a record foreign direct investment over the last several years and the trend is likely to continue. This is an area where we can keep hearing good news in the days ahead. The PLI scheme announced for the 13 sectors will go a long way towards scaling up domestic manufacturing facilities and exports, accompanied by higher import substitution and employment generation. It has generated avid interest in domestic foreign investors," he said.

Mr Shankar said that with support from the government our exporters have been putting up a stellar performance. India's merchandise exports in April - November this year increased by over 24 per cent, compared with the same period pre-COVID in 2019. "We are all charged up to bring in a New India@75; we are all set to begin and complete the journey to emerge as a global leader and claim the place we deserve in the world. The New India has a target of USD 2 trillion exports by 2030. USD1 trillion in merchandise exports and USD1 trillion in services exports has been set in line with the Prime Minister's clarion call of 'Local Goes Global', and 'Make in India for the World'," he said.

Mr Sanjiv Mehta, President-Elect, FICCI thanked the Minister for acknowledging FICCI's efforts towards the success of the India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. "India is at a cusp of greatness. I believe that this should be India's decade. The way that the country has navigated the pandemic has been stellar. At the beginning of the fiscal year when the Minister talked about his vision of USD 400 billion of merchandise exports, it looked like a tall order, but we here we are, 8-9 months into the year with the destination clearly in sight," he added.

Mr Mehta added that momentum growth rate in exports should give us confidence that India is on the path where exports should once again play a big part of our growth story. "As a country, manufacturing and industry must play a big part in India's growth journey, be it in creating livelihoods or for bringing technology to the fore. And in this quest India also must decide where we have natural advantages or where we can create competitive advantages, and this is where the PLI scheme comes in so handy to create the kind of advantage the current country needs to create," he said.

FICCI's endeavour will always be to partner the Government of India in its journey, and we will do all that it takes to make the country's vision a reality, Mr Mehta further added.

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