“States must address gaps in education and skilling”: Member, NITI Aayog Dr Arvind Virmani

Fifth CII Global Trade Scenario Conference 2024 in Mumbai Focuses on Adapting to Disruption: Resilience, Sustainability, and Innovation

New Delhi: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted the Fifth Global Trade Scenario Conference in Mumbai today, 8th August 2024. The fifth edition was themed ‘Adapting to Disruption: Resilience, Sustainability, and Innovation,’ which in the face of unprecedented global trade challenges, aimed to foster dialogue among key stakeholders.

“Demographic dividend, unbundling of services, fragmentation, and demonopolisation of exports will drive trade and help India’s transition to upper middle income country by 2030,” Member, NITI Aayog, Dr. Arvind Virmani mentioned during his keynote address. He spoke about India’s growth prospects amid global trade disruptions. Dr. Virmani highlighted a notable shift in the global growth landscape. “Getting anchor investors into every state will drive FDI,” he added.

Dr. Virmani shared his views on several macro-economic indicators concerning India. He said that considering his projection of a 5.4% average growth, India will become an upper middle-income nation by early 2030s and a high-income nation by 2050. He also stressed on the importance for India to upgrade its urban infrastructure including drinking water, sanitisation and drainage to match the standards commensurate with these income levels going forward.

While talking about employment, Dr Virmani stated that India’s worker population ratio is rising and that the number of employees is growing faster than the growth rate in population. According to Dr Virmani, among the three categories of workers viz. casual workers, salaried workers and self-employed, the first category saw the fastest rise in wages, whereas the second category is not seeing much increase. He said that there is an urgent need to address gaps in education and skilling and advised states to focus on the same.

“Job and skilling are two sides of the same coin,” Dr. Virmani underscored the critical link between job creation and skill acquisition. He asserted that job creation and skilling are intrinsically connected, with initiatives like NIPUN - National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy, and DIKSHA - Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing schemes the government focuses greatly on skilling which is vital for the economy. However, he stressed that while the government can seed these programs, private sector participation and NGO involvement are essential to bridging the skills gap and ensuring successful outcomes.

Dr. Virmani outlined two primary avenues for sustaining medium- to long-term growth. First, he emphasized the importance of continued policy reforms and innovations, noting that various initiatives, including those related to taxes and Ease of Doing Business (EODB), are ongoing processes. Second, he highlighted the significance of targeted programs and projects, particularly those in the budget that promotes skill development.

Addressing the impact of recent disruptions, including the pandemic, Dr. Virmani acknowledged that these events have tempered growth rates in the past five years. However, he claimed that recovery is imminent, with sustained growth on the horizon if the country stays on the path of reforms and rejuvenation of the economy.

“Government backing in terms of strong policy support has been enablers of trade. Make in India initiative, PLI schemes, new Foreign Trade Policy, Interest Equalization Scheme, Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Trade Infrastructure for Exports Scheme, will continue to support growth in EXIM trade going forward,” Chairman, CII Global Trade Scenario 2024 Chairman and Managing Director Blue Star Ltd Vir Advani pointed out the various government initiatives in his opening remarks.

Chairperson CII Western Region Swati Salgaocar mentioned how the western region of the country makes significance contribution from India’s global trade point of view. “Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh accounted for 47 per cent share of India’s total Foreign Direct Investment Equity inflow and contributed 50 per cent to India’s overall exports,” she remarked.

Vice President, CII Managing Director & CEO Tata Chemicals Ltd R Mukundan and Co-Chairman, CII WR Sub-Committee on International Trade and Managing Director Arunaya Organics Pvt. Ltd Vinod Agrawal and Chairman and Managing Director BEML Ltd. Shantanu Roy also spoke during the event.

During the later part of the session, Consul Generals of Australia, Finland, Thailand, New Zealand and Malaysia had a panel discussion with dignitaries from the business community, government, intergovernmental agencies, policymakers, service providers, and technology innovators. They discussed on strategies to navigate and thrive amidst evolving global trade landscapes, enhance resilience in the face of disruptions, and promote sustainable practices.

The panelists had discussions on government initiatives which are instrumental in supporting growth in EXIM trade. The conference brought together global experts, senior officials from Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Consul Generals, and industry leaders and senior government officials stated a press release.