World sees optimism, confidence in Indian economy: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India is seen as a combination of openness, opportunities and options as the world sees optimism and confidence in the Indian economy.

In a video message at the G20 Trade and Investment Minister’s meeting here, the prime minister said that during the last nine years, India has become the fifth largest global economy and it has increased its competitiveness and enhanced transparency.

”Today we see global optimism and confidence in the Indian economy. India is seen as a combination of openness, opportunities and options,” he said.

India has expanded digitisation and promoted innovation and it has moved away from red tape to red carpet and liberalised FDI flows, he said.

”Above all we have brought policy stability,” he said, adding, ”we are committed to make India the third largest global economy in the next few years.” He further said that the global uncertainties have tested the world economy and as members of the G20, it is the responsibility of the countries to rebuild confidence in international trade and investments.

”We must build resilient and inclusive global value chains that can withstand future shocks. In this context, India’s proposal to create a generic framework for mapping global value chains is important,” Modi said.

He added that this framework aims to assess vulnerabilities, minimise risks and enhance resilience.

About increasing growth of e-commerce, the prime minister said that there is a need to work collectively to ensure equitable competition between large and small sellers.

”We also need to address the problem faced by consumers in fair price discovery and grievance handling mechanisms,” he said, adding that there is a need to put special focus on MSMEs as they account for 60 to 70 per cent of employment and contribute 50 per cent to the global GDP.

”They need our continued support… For us MSME means maximum support to micro, small and medium enterprises,” he said.

Further, he said that the proposed ”Jaipur Initiative to foster seamless flow of information to MSMEs” will address the challenge of inadequate access to market and business related information faced by the sector.

”I am confident that you will work collectively to ensure that the global trading system gradually transitions into a more representative and inclusive future,” he added.