We will showcase India’s reforms at WEF meet: Prabhu

Showcasing reforms that promote manufacturing will be on India’s agenda at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

Speaking to reporters, Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu said, “The Make in India programme aims to alter India’s Gross Domestic Product profile to bring in more manufacturing, even if we take it to 20 per cent, it will be a big difference,” he said.

Prabhu said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the Annual Meeting in Davos. This will be the second time an Indian Prime Minister will attend the WEF meet after HD Deve Gowda’s visit in 1997, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

India will showcase the business opportunities and reforms implemented in the last three-and-a-half years. These include foreign direct investment reforms which has brought in $195 billion to the country. The 30-rank jump in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report, the Goods and Service Tax, and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code are among other reforms.

Apart from the economic discussions, India will showcase Heritage India, Indian Culture and Yoga as well with a focus also on the artificial intelligence and Startup India, Prabhu added.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry will also host a welcome reception for the participants of WEF annual meeting. An official statement said that this will showcase business opportunities in India.An official statement said, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley; Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu; Rail and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal; Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan; Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh; and Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar will also be attending the annual meeting.

The Ministers will represent India in around 25 sessions organised on Next Generation Industrial Strategies, Infrastructure acceleration, fourth industrial revolution, future of employment in manufacturing and production, among others in the annual meeting, the statement added.