India-France Business Summit: India offers scale, speed, skills to world, says Piyush Goyal

France, April 12: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, while addressing India-France Business Summit and CEOs Roundtable in Paris, told participants and delegates that there is a huge delta of opportunities in India and invited them to leverage on them.

The Embassy of India in Paris, in association with the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Mouvement des entreprises de France(MEDEF) and the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry(IFCCI), organised the Business Summit and CEOs Roundtable on Tuesday (local time).

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More than 50 CEOs from Indian and French companies participated at the CEOs Roundtable which was addressed by Minister Goyal and the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad, Government of France, Olivier Becht. Sectors such as agriculture, tourism, defence, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and aerospace were also represented at the roundtable.

Piyush Goyal stated that,"We are one the largest consumers of goods and services. Exports of goods and services are growing by over 50 per cent and we hope to continue this growth trajectory. We hope to see our exports of goods and services to triple from USD 765 billion to USD 2 trillion by 2030."

Notably, India's total exports crossed USD 750 billion in 2022-23, the highest ever by the country. In the past six-to-seven years, India's exports have risen by about 75 per cent, as compared to 28 per cent at the global level.

During the session new energy, the participants discussed ways in how businesses could tap opportunities in green transition; new technologies in various areas - renewable energy, mobility, buildings, infrastructure, construction, energy efficiency, industrial processes, and agriculture.

Critical and Emerging Technologies: The New Strategic Frontier

Collaboration and competition are growing around critical and emerging technologies, including advanced computing, communications and networking technology, advanced materials, engine technology, space technologies and systems, sensors, renewable energy technology, semiconductors and microelectronics, directed energy, and hypersonics.

Defence Cooperation: Securing a Shared Future Through Atmanirbhar Bharat

The evolving geopolitics, including the growing challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, and the emergence of contests in new domains such as Space and cyberspace, have further increased the salience of this partnership.   

Notably, France has been a longstanding and increasingly important source of defence platforms, equipment and technology for India. The Session brought out how we go beyond assembly and also develop and design defence technologies; specific defence platforms and equipment where we see the maximum potential for the India-France partnership.