AIR spotlight summary on “Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum”.
Introduction
- The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland which is a historic meeting because after over 20 years an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Davos. The WEF meeting at Davos is assumed as an iconic place in the annual conferences of the world. It is a place where the world leaders of the economy and politics come together and discuss many issues and seek investment from the corporate CEOs of the world. It is expected that Modi will project India in the best possible way.
India’s Presence in Davos
- India’s presence in Davos has been there for a very long time, but it is believed this particular event would foster more investment to the economy. There is likely to be a positive effect on the outlook that many international agencies have about India. The Global Economic Prospects report by the World Bank shows that among all the economies projected in terms of the growth rate, India’s growth rate is likely to be 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5 in 2019-20. US growth rate would be about 2.5%, the Euro area its 2.1%, Japan its 1.3% and China its 6.4%. Among all the economies India is in the bright spot and it is the right moment where we can invite more investments to propel this growth.
- Prime Minster Modi has been vowing the industry for a very long time. From the Make in India programme, the FDI inflows is about 9933 crore. As the industry invests in the economy, it creates more employment, high income, better choices for the consumer and a higher economic growth.
- The government is not focusing only on technology driven investments, they are also focusing on culturally driven economic systems where by our strong strengths like Ayurveda and Yoga have been put forward. There is going to be soft power talks, yoga demonstrations and India cuisine at Davos. The government has been trying to project to the world market a newer India having less tolerance to corruption and red tapism and having a tax compliant economy.
Women Empowerment
- Shah Rukh Khan received a Crystal award at the WEF for the work raising awareness about human rights issues and he spoke about women and child rights. In India the appeal of cricketers and Bollywood personalities are much higher to the people in India and outside. This is significant when we are attracting investments from NRIs who may be fond of Bollywood stars. Women have been recognised as an important pillar of growth and development because if we educate women or empower women it is like empowering an entire family or a society. Women development has been one of the focus areas of the government which is also to be highlighted at the Davos.
- The theme for the 2018 WEF is “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”. Based on this theme women is given lot of importance and women is Charing all the sessions at Davos. For India, women’s development has become very critical and the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign has made some difference in places where there was skewed foeticide ratios like Haryana. These are the issues PM Modi is likely to highlight about the changed focus on women in India and trying to rectify problems that women had in the country.
PM projecting India’s Growth at Davos
- PM is likely to bring about the growth story of India where the economy is growing at 7% and the reforms which have created a one market for all with the help of the GST and the rationalisation of the indirect taxes. How digitisation has reached the people and how people have accepted the investments made. Highlight the different MoUs by Japan, Canada and US firms. During April-September 2017, India received the maximum FDI equity inflows from Mauritius (US$ 11.47 billion), followed by Singapore (US$ 5.29 billion), Netherlands (US$ 1.95 billion), USA (US$ 1.33 billion), and Germany (US$ 934 million). Similarly there are other investments coming into the economy like pension funds, from other investment companies and organisations in different sectors.
- Telecommunication sector was the highest FDI receiving sector. International Finance Corporation (IFC)—a sister organization of the World Bank is going to invest about $6 billion till 2022 in renewable energy sector. India wants investment in healthcare, manufacturing, renewable energy etc. The government is allowing automatic routes to attract investments and rolling out the red carpet against the red tapism.
- PM Modi’s opening address and the concluding address by UD president Donald Trump is seen as giving as much importance to the Indian PM as the leader of the most powerful economy in the world. India is in the continuous process of globalisation whereas Donald Trump is supporting Protectionism. So an opening address by an economy which wants to embrace the world is a positive sign of the world economies accepting India’s new emergence. Once upon a time India was considered a close economy and US as an open economy and now it seems to be the reverse.
