FICCI's 94th Annual Convention, a much-coveted gathering of leaders from Government, Industry, Academia, and other leading luminaries across fields started today at Hotel Taj Palace, SP Marg, New Delhi. The theme of the Convention this year is "India Beyond 75".
The Convention is attended by a high-powered audience, comprising of policymakers, corporates, social organizations, media among others.
The Convention will also have a series of Sessions with Secretaries to the Government of India, Member of Parliaments, Industry players, and other experts.
Various eminent personalities including Piyush Goyal, Amit Shah, S. Jaishankar & Mansukh Mandaviya participated and also addressed the Annual General Meeting.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, said at the annual convention, "Institutions like FICCI play a very important role in acting as a bridge between the government, industries, and other stakeholders, and in some ways, being the voice of India across the world."
Concluding his speech, he thanked all FICCI leaders over the years, all distinguished FICCI members, and everyone at the convention.
Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, Govt of India today while speaking on the Indian economy and GDP said that the post COVID times have started, and the government has taken various initiatives to counter the effects of COVID by improving the supply side. India has come out of COVID with minimum loss as compared to other countries.
“We are reaching the pre-COVID levels. July to September GDP number has been at 8.4 percent and I think in the year 2021-22, India is likely to become the fastest-growing economies in the world. I will not be surprised if we touch double-digit growth,” he added.
Addressing the session ‘Vision on New India’ during the FICCI’s Annual Convention & 94th AGM, Shah said that out of the 22 parameters of the economy, India has exceeded 19 parameters, and this shows that we have come out strong. Both manufacturing and service sector indexes have reached the pre-COVID levels. “With the announcements of various packages and relief, our inflation is in the range of 4-6 percent as set by the government,” he added.
Highlighting the potential of the MSME sector, Shah said that till the time we encourage and strengthen this sector, we cannot address the issue of unemployment in the county. He also emphasized the need of spending more in the R&D sector.
He further emphasized the need for FICCI to identify the potential growth areas, collaborate with the government, and prepare a roadmap for taking India to new heights of prosperity in the next 25 years.
Uday Shankar, President, FICCI said that the all-around development initiatives of the government are transforming India and each step is bringing us closer to AtmaNirbhar Bharat. “Harnessing technology for greater transparency, improved competitiveness, and enhanced efficiency has been the hallmark of multiple reforms we have seen over the last seven years,” he added.
Sanjiv Mehta, President-Elect, FICCI said that this epidemic has accelerated the nation's digital journey and provided the much-needed impetus. “We should protect privacy, but we should free data as a national asset,” he added.
Naina Lal Kidwai, Past President FICCI and Chairman Advent India Advisory Board said, women, constitute 13.8% of the total entrepreneurs in India, of which 16-17% employ people; the balance 83% are self-employed. Women entrepreneurship is skewed mainly towards small-size firms, with almost 98% being micro-enterprises and over 90% falling under the informal sector.
On ensuring that women and girls thrive in the technology-oriented digital world, especially post-COVID, Nayar stated that technology has become critical to businesses everywhere and gender disparity in education, especially at higher levels, needs to be reduced.
"Quality of education across all levels needs to be improved. We need to inculcate critical thinking and analytical bent of mind, and fluency in critical languages like English", she said. Besides, she also highlighted the family's role in ensuring girls' education.
Alluding to the remarkable progress on the sex ratio front as per the recent National Family Health Survey, she said, "India has made a lot of progress to allow girls to be born, now, give them a right to dream.”
