Piyush Goyal highlights the importance of small countries in the Global Supply Chain at 'India Calling Conference 2023'

MUMBAI: Union Minister for CommerceandIndustry,PiyushGoyal, delivered the inaugural address at the 'India Calling Conference 2023' organized by the Indian Merchants Chamber in Mumbai. During his address, he highlighted the contribution of companies from small countries, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, to the supply chain of big companiesaroundtheglobe.

Minister Goyal appealed to all to aim for a 47 trillion dollar economy when India reaches the year 2047. Minister Goyal said that every single geography in the world has a lot of hope and expectation from India, and though it can be sometimes daunting, it shows the confidence of the world in India's future. He said, "India reflects the vision of the world as one Economy. While Commerce Industry teams are negotiating Free Trade Agreements with a deep focus on protecting India's interest, India believes that true prosperity happens when the whole world prospers. India believes in Vaccine Maitri under which it delivered 278 million doses to poorer countries mostly free because Indiafeelssafewhentheworldissafe."

During the conference, Dinesh Joshi, Chairman, IMC International Business Committee, highlighted thesuccessstoryof'MakeinIndia'initiative,whereIndia has turned out to be one of the most favored manufacturing hubs. He mentioned that India's smart phone exports have increased from zero to 90,000 crores, and centers of excellence are being set up for the manufacture of electronics, pharma, textiles, and solar manufacturing. He also noted that India has made considerable progress in sectors such as defense, space, hydrogenenergy,andfintech.

Anant Singhania, President, IMC, in his welcome address, said that India is now the 5th largest nation byGDP, upfrom10thplacesince2014.Hehighlightedthe government's initiatives to link ordinary Indians to their electronicidentitythroughasetofdigitalservices,which has caused the cost of technology to drop. This and the conducive ecosystem created by the Government of India have transformed the startup scene in India, making India the world's third-largest startup hub, he observed. He also noted how India has gone from creating 1 Unicorn/year to 42 Unicorns in 2021 and in a span of 10 years emerged as the number 1 mobile data consumingnation.