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Pitching for transformational growth and urging industry leaders to scale up and venture into hitherto uncharted territory, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the world trusts that India can and must deliver.
The Union Minister, who is on a visit to the UK, attended the Business Plenary Session, where he interacted with industry leaders and stakeholders to discuss opportunities for trade, investment, and economic growth. The Union Minister said that global rating agencies such as Fitch, Moody's, and S&P have been unfair to India, have not adequately recognized the India growth story as also the country's strong fundamentals and its capabilities. He called for ramping up exports to the United Kingdom, stating that there is a lot of potential and there is need for India to have a larger market share. The Union Minister highlighted the opportunities arising from the forthcoming implementation of the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) on July 15. He stressed collaboration, cooperation, and partnerships as a way to move faster. The Minister spoke of the need to have high growth ambition and work accordingly. "I do believe that what we will seize now will become very valuable. Very often in our cosy comfort, we lose track, time passes by. And then we get into the typical rut of claiming success when we have 5, 7, or 10% growth. International trade normally grows at 4 to 6%, or 5%. If that is the kind of level of ambition that we will keep as a nation, it'll be completely a betrayal of the trust that the world has in us today," he said "And I'm not talking about the trust that we have in all of you. I'm not even talking about your capabilities here. I'm saying the world's trust on you--India can deliver, that India must deliver. They want to engage with all of us; otherwise, they wouldn't be doing these free trade agreements at this speed. And these are not just tariffs and rules of origin; these are very comprehensive, as I've said earlier. So transformational growth and entry into hitherto uncharted territory should also be a prime focus of this team and the message you take back home. And the message my British brothers and sisters in this room take to your companies and your colleagues here is going to be very important," he added. The Union Minister referred to CareEdge rating report and appreciated its team for their work. "So far we only had Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's. And I can say it on record, they have been unfair to India. They have not recognized the India growth story, the strong India fundamentals, and the sovereign's capabilities--the Indian capability and future--and captured it as much as a rating agency should have done. I will not cast any motives to it, but I do express surprise at it," he said. "And I think what CareEdge has done is do their job extremely objectively. They have assessed much weaker economies than India with absolutely no future, to whom other agencies have given better ratings than India for reasons best known to them. And what he just spoke about--22 country ratings around the world being changed to converge with the findings of CareEdge--is a matter of deep pride for every Indian. In fact, I almost believe that we must support the Indian effort to bring objectivity to ratings," he added. (ANI)
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