New Delhi, 20th December 2019

Continuous dialogue between Government and industry is very essential in order to come up with innovative solutions to get over road blocks and concerns of the industry said Union Minister for Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today.

He was speaking at the 92nd AGM and annual business convention of FICCI. Speaking on the subject of the Roadmap for India to a 5 trillion-dollar economy the Commerce and Industry Minister said that the need of the hour is to not only solve issues that concern individual industry but deal with the root cause of the problem and put in place sustainable solutions that will create a better business environment for all of industry to flourish. It may be the smallest of issues or huge road blocks but Indian industry must help the Government to navigate through all of these in order to take forward the India growth story.

He urged industry to not only look for innovative solutions to problems but to also invest in innovations in every aspect of business and industry so that the competitive edge of industry is improved. Compared to other countries India’s investment in R&D is a fraction of India’s GDP, it has remained constant at around 0.6% to 0.7% of India’s GDP. This is below the expenditure of countries like the US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and Korea (4.2) informed the Minister and there is need for Government and industry to invest more in R&D.

Commerce and Industry Minister stated that Government is ready to give all support to industry in every aspect of their business for which efforts are being made to implement systemic solutions that will reduce litigation, fast track patent registration, fast track trade remedial measures and improve the regulatory environment.

He further said that as Commerce Minister he has initiated review of the Free Trade Agreements with countries and the Ministry is examining the non-tariff barriers that countries put in place in order to hinder exports from India.

Commerce and Industry Minister complimented FICCI for serving the Indian Industry for 90 years and acting as a bridge between the Government and Industry and helping to take the India growth story forward.

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MM