Modi raises the bar at Davos, promises more Made-in-India vaccines

Showcasing India’s success in developing two Made in India vaccines to combat the coronavirus pandemic at the Davos Agenda 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also underlined bright prospects of India’s economic recovery and enhanced ease of doing business in the country. Addressing the World Economic Forum’s online Davos Agenda Summit, Mr Modi said Made in India vaccines have been exported to over 150 countries and stressed that the world would see many more Made in India vaccines in the coming days.

“When Covid-19 arrived, India had its share of problems. At the beginning of last year, several experts and organizations had made several predictions that India would be most affected by the pandemic. Someone had even said that 700-800 million would be infected and someone had said that over two million Indians would die from the pandemic,” he said. “Looking at the condition of countries with better health infrastructure, the world was right in worrying about us,” he added.

PM Modi was among the top world leaders to attend the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos Agenda Summit 2021. The seven key themes for this year’s summit included: How to Save the Planet, Fairer Economies, Tech for Good, Society and Future of Work, Better Business, Healthy Futures and Beyond Geopolitics. The issues of collaboration include COVID-19 vaccination, job creation and climate change to be discussed among the world leaders.

The Davos Dialogues agenda marks the launch of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset Initiative in the post-COVID world. Top global leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu have addressed the Davos summit which has been held online for the first time in its history.In his speech at the Davos summit, Mr Modi highlighted a wide range of issues from Artificial Intelligence to vaccine infrastructure to structural reforms.

Self-Reliant India

PM Modi said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will supplement India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative journey towards self-reliance. Emphasizing India’s handling of the coronavirus vaccine, PM Modi said that the country’s efforts have resulted in mankind’s benefit. “Previously we imported all the PPE kits and masks from outside but now not only are we fulfilling our domestic demand but also are one of the largest exporters of the kits,” he said. “Industrial Revolution 4.0 is not meant for robots, but humans. India has made rapid strides in four pillars of Industry 4.0: Connectivity, automation, Artificial intelligence and real-time data,” PM Modi said.

Artificial Intelligence

Mr Modi discussed future prospects of Indian cities and called for enhanced investments in the metro lines and electrical mobility of India. He stressed on investing more in technologies like Artificial Intelligence and stressed on the need for having a data protection law, like the one which exists in the European Union. Manufacturing, infrastructure, structural reforms were the key points highlighted by the PM.

From COVID to structural reforms

“Structural reforms are being supplemented by production-linked schemes. In India, from tax regime to tax norms, all are in a predictable and friendly manner,” he said.

Covid Vaccination

Mr Modi said that India is sending COVID-19 vaccines and strengthening vaccination infrastructure in many countries. “In just 12 days, India has vaccinated more than 2.3 million healthcare workers. In next some months, we will achieve our target of vaccinating 300 million elderly people. While only two Made-in-India vaccines have been approved as of yet, many more will be rolled out soon, aiding the global offensive against the pandemic.

Ease of Doing Business

“India has a vibrant startup sector and 2/3rds of our economic output comes from cities. We have a commitment to Ease of living, Ease of Doing Business, and climate-sensitive development. We are working to converge the physical and digital worlds in our cities.”

“Infrastructure is one of the foremost priorities of the Indian Government in the last 6 years. India has added 36GW to production capacity, roads and real networks are being augmented. USD 1.5 Trillion projects will be implemented in the next 5 years. Logistics policy has also been contemplated. Reforms are an ongoing exercise, to improve competitiveness”, highlighted the Prime Minister.

(Palak Chhabra contributed inputs for this article)

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