Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) organised the 1st edition of Indo Pacific Business Summit from 6-8 July, 2021, over a virtual platform.
- Theme of the Summit – ‘Developing a Road Map for Shared Prosperity’
- Objective – To discuss how India & other countries in the Indo Pacific Region can enhance economic partnership and collaborate for future economic development.
- MEA Secretary (East), Riva Ganguly Das addressed the Special Session of the Summit. Ambassadors and High Commissioners of various countries across the Indo Pacific region participated in the summit.
- The Topics of discussion were Physical and digital connectivity, development of supply chains, start-ups, healthcare, investment opportunities in the region, climate change, blue economy and others.
Key Points
i.Riva Ganguly Das underlined the importance of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific in facilitating trade and connectivity in the region.
ii.India highlighted the initiatives taken by it for building cross border linkages and infrastructure, promoting digital connectivity, Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
iii.The summit also hosted a Virtual Business Exhibition.
Piyush Goyal Addresses the Special Plenary with Trade Ministers
Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal delivered the keynote address at the CII’s Special Plenary with the Trade Ministers in the Indo-Pacific region during the summit.
- Piyush Goyal’s address was largely centered on two topics – India’s Initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region and Inviting neighbouring countries to invest in India.
India’s initiatives in the Indo-Pacific Region
i.In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Mission ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth of All in the Region) which sets out India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific region.
ii.In April 2021, India, Japan, and Australia launched the ‘Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI)’ to build a resilient supply chain with focus on a free, transparent trade & investment environment in the Indo-Pacific region. India invited other countries to join the initiative.
Invite for Business
i.India invited the business community in the region to boost development, trade and growth in the region.
- Piyush Goyal stated that Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes worth USD 26 billion in 13 sectors have been launched by India to create & nurture global manufacturing champions.
- He stated that soon India will launch a single window clearance system and highlighted the ‘Ease of Doing Business Report, 2020’, which acknowledged India as one of the top 10 improvers for the 3rd consecutive time.
- Despite the pandemic, India witnessed its highest ever merchandise exports of USD 95 billion in Q1 of 2021-22 & it had also received the highest ever FDI inflow in 2020-21 of USD 81.72 billion.
ii.He also stated that export-import collaboration can be expanded in areas of Clean Technology, Tourism, Logistics, Sustainable Agriculture, Startups, Healthcare, Education & Life sciences.
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About Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
President – T V Narendran
Head Office – New Delhi
About Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
Union Minister – S Jaishankar (Rajya Sabha – Gujarat)
MoS – V Muraleedharan (Rajya sabha – Maharashtra), Meenakashi Lekhi (Lok Sabha – New Delhi, NCT of Delhi), Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (Inner Manipur, Manipur)
