Modi's pitch at Davos next week: Come, invest in India

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will showcase India’s economic opportunities for global investors and meet the CEOs of top international companies in Davos, Switzerland, at the forthcoming World Economic Forum annual meeting there next week. Mr Modi will deliver the keynote address at the WEF plenary session on January 23, the external affairs ministry said on Friday. Several other ministers — including finance minister Arun Jaitley, commerce minister Suresh Prabhu, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, railway minister Piyush Goyal, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and PMO minister of state Jitendra Singh — will also attend various WEF sessions. At Davos, the Indian government is also likely to make a pitch for American and other global companies to shift their hubs to India if they face problems operating in China.

This is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister will attend the Davos summit in two decades — after H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997. India will also showcase its soft power, including yoga, cuisine and culture. Two yoga “acharyas” are being flown to Davos will hold yoga demonstrations there at a locale on the Swiss Alps. There will be a major reception that India will host for 1,500 delegates, during which the country will showcase its achievements in the past few years, including the huge jump in India’s global ranking in the ease of doing business.

Mr Modi will also meet Swiss President Alain Berset at a bilateral meeting. There are so far no plans to meet US President Donald Trump as Mr Trump and Mr Modi will visit Davos on different days. On Mr Modi’s Davos visit, MEA secretary (economic relations) Vijay Keshav Gokhale (who will soon take over as foreign secretary) said: “It will be a short visit of 24 hours... I think the PM’s message to the international community is going to be that India is open, it’s ready to do business, it’s done major reforms. it’s on course to be one of the fastest-growing countries in the world in terms of GDP, and I think the PM will stick to the centrality of this message.” When asked why Mr Modi had chosen to attend the WEF now when the government was in its fourth year of its five-year tenure, Mr Gokhale said: “The PM wanted to show that things are happening on the ground before speaking on it.” He said the government’s message to the delegates and business community was that India had opened up its economy and that “you are welcome to take advantage of it”. Interestingly, US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster had recently said India could become an alternative hub for American businesses in the Indo-Pacific region as a number of US companies are facing some difficulties in doing business in China. When asked about that, Mr Gokhale said: “Sure, this will be the central message.” He added that the government would seek a “greater amount of foreign investment”.