Modi to showcase India Growth Story at Davos

Buoyed by India’s growing economy and its rising global profile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to pitch the India growth story to the international political and financial elite at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos. Mr Modi’s overarching message will be “India is open for business,” also the theme of the promotional campaign India has launched in Davos. Mr Modi will speak on the theme for the 2018 WEF, “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World,” and India’s role in the world.

In his plenary speech, PM Modi is expected to highlight pathbreaking economic reforms taken by his government which have led to enhanced ease of doing business. India jumped 42 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business last year.“In recent years, India’s engagement with the outside world has become truly and effectively multi-dimensional covering the political, economic, people to people, security and other spheres… At Davos, I look forward to sharing my vision for India’s future engagement with the international community,” Mr Modi said ahead of his visit to the picturesque Alpine town of Davos.

“The existing and emerging challenges to the contemporary international system and global governance architecture deserve serious attention of leaders, governments, policymakers, corporates and civil societies around the world,” Modi added in his statement.

Besides delivering his address to a gathering of around 1500 people, Mr Modi’s engagements in Davos include a bilateral meeting with Swiss President Swiss Alain Berset, a round table dinner with 60 CEOs from 26 different sectors and an interaction with 120 international business leaders who are also members of the International Business Council. The focus will be on the recent structural reforms undertaken by the government in banking and taxation, the GST roll out and the drive to crack down on black money.

Mr Modi is accompanied by a heavyweight delegation that includes, among others, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Industry, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the PMO Jitendra Singh and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will also be part of the Indian delegation.

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