Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a bilateral meeting with AfDB President Masatsugu Asakawa on the sidelines of the AfDB’s annual meetings in Incheon, South Korea on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there was a need to focus on labor-intensive industries and develop skills.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday stressed the need to focus on four Is – infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness – to achieve long-term sustainable growth.
The global economy in recent years has faced trials and tribulations, she said, adding that countries have made efforts to protect the vulnerable part of society at the cost of higher government borrowing. .
Speaking at the Asian Development Bank (AfDB) Governors’ Seminar on “Policies to Support Asia’s Rebound”, Sitharaman stressed that there is also need to involve the private sector to scale up investments and innovation.
Elaborating on the four Is, the minister said investment is essential to spur infrastructure development, which has the potential to create jobs.
The third I is for innovation, she said, adding that innovative solutions from startups are needed to tackle the problems facing countries.
Unless you have innovative ideas to solve your local problems and encourage your local young people to find solutions, you will end up spending more on solutions that may not be good, she said. .
“The fourth I is for inclusiveness,” she said, adding that if all people are not included in the development process, there could be conflict in society.
“So 4I is for the long term and in which private sector participation, not just public sector investment, (is essential). India over the past 3-4 years has spent billions of dollars on infrastructure development,” she said.
The minister further said there was a need to focus on labor intensive industries and ensure skills development.
“Industries are repositioning themselves in the era of Web 3.0. Governments, together with industry, will need to provide the skills required for a technology-driven society,” she said.
Sitharaman said there should be a conscious effort to shift from capital spending to revenue spending. Capital expenditure helps create assets and creates a multiplier effect in the economy. It benefits labor and semi-skilled workers.
In favor of global coordination, Sithraman said, the world is not decoupled, so anything that happens anywhere impacts every country.
She added that under the G20 presidency, India is trying to speak to every country so that nations come together to bring solutions to the problems facing the world. PTI DP JD CS DRR The PTI correspondent is in South Korea at the invitation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
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