Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) organized its maiden Global Services Conclave 2021 on 9th November where industry stalwarts and government officials gathered to share their views on the improvement and way forward for the Services Sector.
The Global Services Conclave 2021 saw experts from the government, services industry, exporting community, academia, and policymakers outlining a roadmap for India to achieve the target of $1trillion by 2030.
Piyush Goyal said that services are a key driver of India’s economic growth. He added that the services sector provides employment to nearly 2.6 crore people and contributes approximately 40% to India’s total global exports. He further added that services trade surplus was $89 bn in FY 2020-21 and it has been the largest recipient of FDI receiving nearly 53% of the total FDI inflows into the country during 2000-2021. Emphasizing that in the services sector India has competitive advantage, powered by Skills, Startups and IT Solutions, the Minister said that today, Indian services have the twin power of universal acceptance & universal attraction.
Lauding India’s commitment to enable ‘work from Home’ during the pandemic, Shri Goyal said that while services trade remained depressed in other countries, India’s services sector showed immense resilience. “Sectors like tourism, hospitality, etc. which suffered due to COVID-19, are showing revival signs”. Further, he added that India has the potential to become the top service provider and that services are boosting India’s transition from an Assembly economy to a knowledge-based economy. Mr. Goyal also said “India has transformed from being the ‘Back Office’ to the ‘Brain Office’ of the world”.
Maneck Davar, Chairman, SEPC,asserted that SEPC aims at achieving a 15% CAGR in the FY 2021-22 for the services sector to achieve the target of $240 billion and beyond. He further added, “This Conclave shall help us in finding ways in which other sectors, such as hospitality, education and medical tourism, can contribute to the growth of services sector exports, once IT/ITes reach a plateau and that it’s a matter of time before we become the 3rdtop services exporting country in the world”.
Dr. Abhay Sinha, Director General, SEPC,while setting the tone of the event, said, “In 2021, India’s total services exports were $206 bn, falling by only 3% despite the pandemic. It not only showed enough resilience but also attracted attention from the policymakers for making a noticeable contribution towards economic growth.”
Sunil Talati, Vice Chairman, SEPC,while concluding the event thanked the Ministry for their valuable and continuous support towards SEPC. He further added, “Our endeavor at SEPC is to see it getting recognized across various sectors and receiving government support at every stage in the next two years”. He also insisted Shri. Piyush Goyal to enable ease of exporting service to grow and strengthen the sector.
The conclave witnessed some very distinguished speakers such as Darpan Jain, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce; Amit Yadav, Director General, DGFT; Atul Dhawan, Chairperson, Deloitte India; Sunil Joshi, Executive Director, Policy Matters, ECGC; and Mr. Ved Mani Tiwari, COO & Officiating CEO, National Skill Development Corporation, Prof. (Dr.) Neharika Vohra, VC, Delhi Skill and Entrepreneur University, Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman and Founder Narayana Hospital to name some, who took part in a detailed discussion on ‘how to promote the growth and development of the services sector exports.
