Davos: A new Trade and Economic Participation Agreement with a four-nation European bloc will bring USD 100 billion worth of investment and create one million jobs in India, Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary said on Wednesday.
Here to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, the minister told PTI in an interview that Indian talent has proved its mettle globally and the commitments made by global companies show their trust in the skillset of Indian youth.
The Indian government has done a lot on capital formation, infrastructure creation and bringing investments, and the results are visible everywhere, be it ports, railway or road networks, he said.
The minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said these are basic things for any industry as well as for people and investors.
“One thing is also clear that the Indian government trusts its youth a lot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself keeps talking to youth and keep inspiring them on every occasion,” he said.
He cited the example of the recent Young Leaders Dialogue and said the prime minister spent six hours with the youth and it was only to listen to the youth of the country who had come from all over India.
This marks a sea change in the way youth of our country are being taken by the government, he said.
“When we talk about skill development, the entire world is now recognising the potential of our young talent. We are getting ranked at top positions in various education and skillset rankings and at some places we have even overtaken countries like the US. Even in areas like AI skills, we are being ranked on top globally,” Chaudhary said.
“I feel so proud when here I tell business and government leaders from all over the world during meetings and roundtables about the progress India has made in areas like education, skill development and youth empowerment. Even in trade and business agreements we sign, they also show our and our partners’ trust in India’s youth. We have had several successful meetings here which would be converted into partnerships and agreements in the coming time and would bring new investments and create a large number of jobs,” he added.
Talking about the meetings he had here during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, he said the Swiss government is soon likely to ratify a trade and economic participation agreement that has been have signed with a bloc of four European nations and India expects that to come into effect from next year.
“One of the key positive outcomes is that it is the first free trade agreement that will have a skill development component. The skill development institutes of these four European nations and their curriculum would be taken to our youth also. It will also ensure that someone who had learnt a skill in India would be recognised in these European nations also.
“This agreement will lead to USD 100 billion worth of investments and one million new jobs in India through companies of these four European countries,” he said.
Total population of these four countries is 13 million and one million jobs would be created in India, the minister said.
Right now also, companies from these countries are present in India and employ 2 lakh people, which would increase by five times. These companies are in top positions globally across the sectors. These new jobs would be created in various sectors such as manufacturing, service, heavy engineering, technology, sustainable development, life sciences etc, he said.
Member states of the European Free Trade Association – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and India signed a comprehensive Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on March 10 this year.
“We are already seeing the impact of TEPA in terms of confidence being shown by European companies and their top government leaders. It took 16 years for TEPA to be signed, 21 rounds of discussions took place, so much back and forth took place and finally, all concerns were resolved. This opens further doors for the completion of other pending trade agreements. This is the first agreement with any European bloc and I am sure others will follow soon,” the minister said.
A lot of work is also happening in areas of science, research and innovation, he noted.
“When I am meeting business leaders from various countries here, I also tell them that Uttar Pradesh is the powerhouse of the Indian agriculture sector. Significant investments are already happening there and many others have expressed their interest in investing in UP across various sectors including agriculture and new-age sectors like semiconductors, medical devices, energy etc. A team from Uttar Pradesh is also here and they are also meeting potential investors.
“India has definitely put a stamp here in Davos and people are very much interested in knowing more about us and they all want to be partners in our journey to become a developed nation by 2047,” he said.
