Piyush Goyal emphasises India's growth potential in next 25 years

Brussels: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has emphasised India's tremendous growth going forward, and said that the country has "over 10X growth potential in the next 25 years which would reinforce its position as the fastest-growing large economy and focus on 4Ts of trade, technology, tourism and talent".

He said it would reinforce India's ambitious mission for sustainability and renewable energy, evidenced by its performance of achieving Paris Agreements targets in 2021 itself - nine years ahead of schedule, etc. The commerce minister was delivering a keynote address during a business meeting organised by the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) at the Federation office on Monday (local time). The minister is on a two-day visit to Brussels to attend the first Ministerial meeting of the India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

This was followed by roundtable discussions which included testimonials from Belgium enterprises which are present and operating in India, testimonials from Indian and foreign companies present in Belgium and remarks from business organisations present during the meeting, according to a statement released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday.

The issues discussed during the roundtable include tariffs and duties, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), investments, the need for regulations in the waste management sector, reducing regulatory compliances, zero carbon technology and green financing, offshore wind systems, etc.

In response to the roundtable discussion, Goyal underscored that there must be a level-playing field for both the developed and emerging economies while addressing global challenges such as climate issues.

While India is committed to achieving its targets of net zero emissions, there should be meaningful contributions by all concerned and commitments made under the Paris Agreement must be adhered to by all countries, he added.

He also expressed hope that the mechanism of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) could emerge as an effective platform for finding solutions to these challenges.

The Minister also noted that the Indian and European Union (EU) share several common concerns with respect to World Trade Organisation (WTO) issues where their positions are largely aligned and therefore, through their collective efforts, could jointly contribute to finding consensus-based solutions in the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference.