DEVELOPED NATIONS KEEN TO SIGN TRADE DEALS WITH INDIA: PIYUSH GOYAL

Before 2014, the Indian economy was considered to be fragile and investors had their doubts about doing business but now the developed countries are keen to sign trade deals with India as they see it as an engine of economic growth, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

Addressing the Vyapari Udyami Sammelan in the national capital, Goyal said developed countries are very keen to sign trade deals with India now. “Before 2014, the Indian economy was considered to be fragile and investors had their doubts about doing business with India,” he said.

Stressing the need for transparency and ease of doing business, the minister assured traders and entrepreneurs that the government will fully support traders who raise their voices against harassment by any authority.

He called upon traders to work with the government to reduce the compliance burden of people and businesses, but asked that they strictly follow ethical trade practices. Unnecessary, cumbersome and counter-productive laws and regulations must be uprooted to improve the ease of doing business, he added.

He asked traders to give priority to the quality of goods and services that India offered. He also underscored the need to encourage youngsters to come forward and lend a youthful energy to India’s growth story with new ideas.

The clarion call of ‘vocal for local’ given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be taken up by the youth of the nation, the minister said. “We must also encourage more and more women to become traders and entrepreneurs,” he said.

Applauding the Prime Minister’s visionary welfare policies, Goyal said that these policies have been helping the poor emerge as consumers and have successfully transformed India’s population into its greatest strength.

He added that the Prime Minister’s tireless work had ensured that every household in the country gets access to basic amenities such as cooking gas, drinking water, electricity and toilet and every village gets access to the Internet. Goyal said that the policies of the government had also given every Indian the courage to be ambitious and the confidence to aspire to become entrepreneurs.