In order to involve more farmers and enhance the reach of natural farming on a larger scale, Government has formulated Natural Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) by up-scaling the Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP) to promote natural farming across the country. NMNF will cover 7.5 lakh ha area by developing 15,000 clusters in next 4 years with total budget outlay of Rs. 1584 crore (GoI Share). With NMNF Government proposes to touch 1 crore farmers along the Ganga belt and in other rainfed parts of the country. For making easy access to bio- resources like Jeevamrit, Ghana Jeevamrit, neemastra etc., Government intends to set up 15,000 Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-inputs Resources Centres (BRCs).

 

In order to provide farmers adopting natural farming an easy access to bio resources like Jeevaamrit, Ghana Jeevamrit, neemastra etc. wherein cow dung and urine, neem and bio culture play an important role, Government intends to set up Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-inputs Resources Centres (BRCs) to prepare and supply bio-inputs to facilitate the adoption of natural farming without individual farmers having to prepare them on their own, as preparation of bio-inputs is a time taking and labour- intensive activity. These bio-inputs resources centres would be set up alongside 15000 model clusters of natural farming 50 ha each. These BRCs would create a national level distributed micro fertilizers and pesticides manufacturing network @ 1 BRC per 50 ha clusters during the period from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

 

Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare (DA&FW) is undertaking large scale training of Master Trainers, Champion Farmers and practicing farmers  on techniques of Natural Farming through National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) and National Center of Organic and Natural Farming (NCONF). MANAGE has also sensitized the public representative like Gram-Pradhan on the technique and benefits of Natural Farming. Study material on 22 regional languages has been prepared, 697 Master Trainers have been developed on natural farming and 997 training were conducted on natural farming for 56952 Gram Pradhans through MANAGE. In addition, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has initiated research in 20 locations to validate natural farming techniques besides demonstrating in 425 KVKs to showcase the benefits of natural farming.

 

A Digital web portal (naturalfarming.dac.gov.in) has been launched for promotion of natural farming to display information about implementation framework, resources, implementation progress, farmer’s registration, blog etc.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said that Farmers and Industry are complementary to each other, - industries cannot function without farmers and without the Industry, Farming cannot be remunerative. The role of the government is important towards both the Farmers and the Industry. It is the effort of the government that there should be maximum growth of industries, but at the same time, our 86 percent Small Farmers should be empowered because no matter how much progress we make, but unless these small farmers turn prosperous, the country will not develop. Industry should bear in mind which programmes will fetch farmers a good price and which path we should follow so that prosperity comes to the homes of the farmers, only then will such exchange of ideas be successful. Shri Tomar said this today in a special session organized during the 28th edition of the Partnership Summit-2023 of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

 

Shri Tomar said that the government is fulfilling all the requirements to promote the Agriculture sector, increase production & productivity and ease the export of agricultural products and will continue to work in this direction in the future. Shri Tomar said that the industries have their own strong teams, which work till the bottom of the pyramid and they also have the right feedback systems. In this context, the Ministry officials should keep in touch with the stakeholders so that information exchange takes place in the interest of the farmers. By continuing to work on these principles, farmers and agriculture sector will benefit more. In this series, a dialogue programme of Industry with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) was organized recently, so that practically the entire agriculture sector including the farmers can get the benefits. Shri Tomar said that agriculture is a priority sector for all of us, which needs the support of technology, research and industries to bring benefits and make farmers prosperous and to further strengthen the agricultural economy, so that when all these are combined, only then progress will accelerate.

 

Shri Tomar said that there was a period when one-sided thinking was used, but now Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has an integrated vision for the overall and balanced development of the country, which CII is also trying to take forward with great enthusiasm. Prime Minister Shri Modi constantly tries to rise beyond the departments because whatever programmes the government has, it is for India, for the people of the country, how those works can move forward, he himself thinks about many programmes. As a result, we see that whatever project is started, no matter how big it is, it is also completed within the same term. Along with monitoring through programmes like PM Gati Shakti, coordinated movement has been made. Shri Tomar said that whatever be the work of agriculture, Prime Minister Shri Modi never lets it be neglected. There was a time when we wanted to learn from the world, today the world wants to learn from India in the field of agriculture.

 

Present on the occasion were Shri Sanjiv Puri, Vice President, Confederation of Indian Industry and CMD, ITC Ltd., Shri Salil Singhal, Chairman, CII Taskforce on Agrochemicals and Chairman Emeritus, PI Industries, other officials and a large number of industry representatives.

The Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that the Union Cabinet in its meeting on 31.03.2021 approved the Central Sector Scheme- 'Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI)' to support creation of global food manufacturing champions commensurate with India’s natural resource endowment and support Indian brands of food products in the international markets with an outlay of Rs.10,900 crores. The implementation of the scheme would facilitate expansion of capacity of processed food products and create employment. The first component of the Scheme relates to incentivising manufacturing of four major food product segments viz. Ready to Cook/ Ready to Eat (RTC/ RTE) foods including Millets based products, Processed Fruits and Vegetables, Marine Products and Mozzarella Cheese. The second component relates to production of Innovative/ Organic products of Small and Medium Enterprises, including Free Range - Eggs, Poultry Meat, Egg Products in these four segments. The third component relates to support for branding and marketing abroad to incentivise emergence of strong Indian brands. From the savings, one more component for Millet based products has been added in the year 2022-23 with an outlay of Rs.800 crores.

 

The Scheme is not specific to any State or region. One application from the North Eastern Region, of M/s Sanna Enterprises, for Millet based products, was received and selected. However, various Food Processing Units located in the North Eastern States, covered under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme are as under:

 

 

Coinciding with the International Year of Millets 2023, during the G 20 meetings being held in the current year, millets are being promoted on a large scale through millet meals, millet melas and distribution of millet gift hampers. Further interaction with millet farmers are also taking place on the sidelines of the G 20 meetings to spread the awareness about millet crops.

 

The Government of India is implementing a multi stakeholder approach towards celebration of International Year of Millets (IYM) - 2023. The action plan of IYM-2023 focuseson strategies to enhance production and productivity, consumption, export, strengthening value chain, branding, creating awareness for health benefits etc.Further, month wise action plans have been prepared by Central Ministries, State Governmentsand Indian Embassies to create awareness about millets for increasing production and demand.

 

Haryana too has prepared a month wise plan for millet promotion throughout the year with activities such as farmers training, farmers awareness camps, village level camps, Bajra  mahotsav, school programmes, road shows, publicity etc.

 

In addition, states such as Odisha, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are implementing State Millet Missions to increase production and consumption.

 

Further, in order to promote millets, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing aSub-Mission on Nutri-Cereals (Millets) under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in 212 Districts of 14 States since 2018-19.Under NFSM–Nutri Cereals, incentives are provided to the farmers, through the states/UTs, on crop production and protection technologies, cropping system based demonstrations, production & distribution of certified seeds of newly released varieties/hybrids, Integrated Nutrient and Pest Management techniques, improved farm implements/tools/resource conservation machineries, water saving devices, capacity building of farmers through trainings during cropping season, organizing events/workshops, distribution of seed minikits, publicity through print and electronic media etc. The interventions such as setting up Centres of Excellence (CoE) and seed hubs for Nutri Cereals have also been supported under NFSM.

 

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has approved the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry for Millet-based products (PLISMBP) for implementation during 2022-23 to 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs. 800 crores. The Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, launched under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyanis currently being implemented in 35 States and Union Territories (UTs). Government is also popularizing Agri-Infrastructure Fund Scheme to invite farmers/FPOs/Entrepreneurs to avail the benefit of interest subvention on loans up to 2 crores for setting up primary processing units in millets.To encourage farmers to take up millet cultivation,higher Minimum Support Prices (MSP) to Jowar, Bajra and Ragihas been announced.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

The country has exported wheat worth Rs 11,728.36 crore during the April-January period of this fiscal year, the government said on Tuesday. In May last year, the government had banned exports of wheat to boost domestic availability and control prices

 

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, 'At present, there is no proposal for lifting restriction on export of wheat before the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare'.

 

'During the current fiscal year (up to January 2023), Rs 11,728.36 crore worth of wheat has been exported,' he added.

 

Although the export was banned, the government had said wheat export will be allowed in case of shipments where the Irrevocable Letter Of Credit (ILOC) has been issued on or before May 13.

 

Tomar said, as per second advance estimates for the agriculture year 2022-23, the wheat production in the country is estimated at 112.18 million tonnes which is higher by 4.44 million tonnes than the production achieved during 2021-22 crop year (July-June).

 

In reply to a separate question, Tomar said, 'in the Northern Indian plain, the maximum temperature in February 2023 was hovering around 32-33 degree celsius in most of the area, and this temperature is unlikely to impact the wheat grain growth adversely as crop canopy temperature can be easily modulated by 2-3 degree celsius less than air temperature by irrigation.'

 

In central and peninsular India, he said the temperature always remains comparatively higher against northern plain throughout the crop growth period and crop phenology is naturally adjusted accordingly.

 

'Therefore, in these area also, the temperature as high as 35 degree celsius is also not going to impact wheat yield adversely,' he added.

 

Based on the surveys conducted by ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal in collaboration of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs), it is found that wheat crop situation is normal, he added.

 

'The scientists of ICAR have issued the advisory of giving light irrigation to modulate the crop canopy temperature favourably as and when required. ICAR-IIWBR issues weekly advisory to the farmers and the information is circulated to state agriculture departments, KVKs and SAUs,' the minister said.

 

The advisory is uploaded regularly on websites, Facebook and circulated to various stakeholders through WhatsApp group.

 

'Further, foliar spray of MOP @0.2 per cent (200 litres/acre) is recommended to minimise the heat shock,' he added.

 

All extension agencies from the Central and state governments along with ICAR/SAUs visit the farmers' fields regularly and provide timely advisories to the farmers, wherever heat stress conditions can have adverse effects, the minister said.

In order to deliberate on plant-based foods as an option for Food Security in the future, a conference was organized on the topic 'Dawn of a Plant-Based Age' during the ‘Aahaar’ exhibition organized at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Inaugurating the conference organized by the Plant Based Foods Industriy Association (PBFIA), the Chief Guest, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that plant-based foods, along with meeting the needs of the times, will create job opportunities and boost agriculture. It will also give strength to the Agriculture sector. In view of the challenges that agriculture is facing, a plant-based alternative diet is an important step.

 

Union Minister Shri Tomar said that if we prepare the options that will be needed in the future, then we can avert any crisis in the coming times. We are well aware of the present and future challenges, Food Security being one of them. In the coming decades, India will complete the centenary of Independence, by that time the population will also increase, whereas due to the works like infrastructural development, laying of new railway lines in large numbers, construction of world class national highways for modern and developed India, we have to be prepared for the possible reduction in the area under cultivation. The Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, along with the State Governments, is rapidly engaged in fulfilling the ambitious target of making India a Developed nation by the year 2047. There is a need to think from now on how much food we will need till the year 2050 and how much global demand will increase from us. In this direction, the Central Government is making all efforts at its level and Prime Minister Shri Modi has taken steps in a planned manner towards realizing the vision of overall and balanced development. People's interest in agriculture should increase continuously, this is also our responsibility, that is why Prime Minister Shri Modi always insists that private investment should come in agriculture sector, new techniques should come, work should get simpler and farmers reap more profit, thus the next generation will be attracted towards agriculture. It has to be understood that the farmer is the basis of farming. The first priority should be to give benefits and prestige to the farmers, so that they can stay in farming, feed the country and also fulfill the expectations of the world. Continuous efforts are being made in this direction through various schemes by the government.

 

Shri Tomar said that along with food security, it is the need of the hour to prepare alternatives from the point of view of nutrition. On the initiative of Prime Minister Shri Modi, the United Nations has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Shree Anna's production-productivity increases, processing, packaging, exports also increase, millet based dishes regain pride of place in our food plates, that's why the Year of Millets is being celebrated. As a result, the nutritious diets will increase, farmers will benefit and job opportunities will also increase. PBFIA office bearer Shri Sanjay Sethi, APEDA's Secretary Dr. Sudhanshu & ITPO's Shri Rajat Agarwal were also present in the programme.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today said if the Small Farmers will be empowered, it will boost India’s GDP. Speaking at an event after launching the Kisan Tak channel and its website of the India Today Group in New Delhi, he said that Small Farmers constitute 85% of the farming community and they face the challenge of lack of private investment. Farming is the backbone of India’s economy and the farm ecosystem is the main pillar of Indian economy, he added.

 

Shri Tomar said that the Central Government has undertaken an ambitious programme of forming 10,000 Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) with an outlay of Rs.6,865 crore to boost the economic capacity of the Small Farmers. While in the plains, 300 farmers can form an FPO, in the Hilly and North-Eastern Region 100 farmers can join to form an FPO. The FPOs can have a bargaining power to have new technologies, improved fertilizers and quality seeds as well as equipment and can add productivity through cluster farming.

 

Shri Tomar said that Rs.1,50,000 crore of Atmanirbhar package has been earmarked for the farmers including Rs.15,000 crore for Horticulture, Rs.20,000 crore for Fisheries, Rs.4,000 crore for Herbal Agriculture and Rs.10,000 crore for Food Processing Industries.

 

The Agriculture Minister said that in 2013-14 the Agriculture Budget was Rs.21,000 crore, which has been increased by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Government to Rs.1,25,000 crore at present. He informed that Rs.2,40,000 crore has been disbursed through PM Kisan Samman to 11.5 crore farmers.

 

Shri Tomar said that in the last nine years the Modi Government has provided a total sum of Rs.20 lakh crore as Short Term Loan to free them from the clutches of money lenders. He said that new innovations in farming as well as application of new technologies has also added to enhance productivity as well as increased production of food grains. The Minister pointed out that last year, Rs.4 lakh crore of Agri Exports has been recorded, which is the highest since Independence.

 

Shri Tomar said Agriculture will continue to play a major role as India, under the able guidance of PM Modi, aims to scale as a $5 Trillion economy soon and will emerge as a Developed nation during the Amrit Kaal by the year 2047. He said that in the last 8-9 years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Modi, many concrete steps have been taken by the Government of India in the Agriculture sector, the benefits of which is evident in the farmers’ community and agriculture sector. Today the responsibility has come upon the Indian agriculture sector and our farmers to eradicate hunger from the world. Expectations from us has increased so much that instead of demanding, we have become a nation of exports.

 

Shri Tomar said that the Agriculture sector not only provides food grains in the country, but also provides employment in large numbers. With the hard work of farmers and research of scientists, we can meet the needs of the country as well as the world. Government of India is working sincerely to increase technical support in Agriculture. The Prime Minister has initiated the Agri Infra Fund worth Rs 1 lakh crore to fill the gaps in infrastructure, besides Rs. 50,000 crores for Allied Sectors. The work of compensating farmers for loss has also been done under the leadership of PM Modi. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is being run to provide security cover to the farmers, through which claims worth Rs 1.30 lakh crore have been disbursed so far. The Prime Minister also ensured that the farmers got at least Rs 20 lakh crore as short-term credit through the Kisan Credit Cards (KCC).

 

Shri Tomar said that the Prime Minister's emphasis is on Natural Farming, it is cow-based farming, for which the government is working in Mission mode. He said that on the initiative of Prime Minister Modi, 2023 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Millets (Shree Anna). A major international event on Shree Anna is scheduled to be held in Delhi on 18 March 2023 with the Prime Minister as the chief guest. When the demand for millets will increase in the country and the world, our small farmers will be benefited.

The government on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that it is taking steps to make India a USD 5 trillion economy earlier than the International Monetary Fund's forecast year of 2026-27. The IMF's World Economic Outlook earlier said the size of the Indian economy will increase from USD 3.2 trillion in 2021-22 to USD 3.5 trillion in 2022-23 and cross USD 5 trillion in 2026-27.

 

'The government has been taking steps to make the country a USD 5 trillion economy at an early date,' Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Upper House.

 

Observing that the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 has impacted the world output, increased inflation in several countries and raised uncertainty in the world economy, he said, 'lower uncertainty in the global economic outlook will help India become a USD 5 trillion-dollar economy earlier'.

 

Some of the important measures taken by the government in the past to boost economic growth include the making of the National infrastructure pipeline of projects, push to capital expenditure, implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, finalisation of the National Monetization Pipeline of public sector assets and formulation of National Logistics policy, he said.

 

The minister further said that capital expenditure will be speeded up by PM Gatishakti for integrated planning of infrastructure and synchronised project implementation across all concerned central ministries, departments and state governments.

 

The Union Budget 2023-24, Chaudhary said, 'further sustains the growth momentum with an increase in capital investment outlay for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore (3.3 per cent of GDP)'.

 

The other initiatives to boost the economy include enhanced outlay for PM Awas Yojana, the launch of the Aspirational Blocks Programme covering 500 blocks for saturation of essential government services; an increase in agriculture credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries; and setting up of Agriculture Accelerator Fund to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas, among others.

 

The minister also said that the direct capital investment by the Centre is being complemented by the provision made for the creation of capital assets through grants-in-aid to states.

 

The 'effective capital expenditure' of the Centre is budgeted at Rs 13.7 lakh crore (4.5 per cent of GDP) for 2023-24, he said, adding 'the newly established Infrastructure Finance Secretariat will oversee the increase in private investment in infrastructure'.

 

In order to improve logistics performance, he said, one hundred critical transport infrastructure projects for last and first-mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertiliser, and food grains sectors have been identified and will be prioritised for development.

Both countries also agreed to aim for USD 100 billion in bilateral trade. Don Farrell, Australia's Minister for Trade and Tourism, who is accompanying Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on an official visit to New Delhi, said the two countries 'can achieve' this goal.

 

On December 29, last year, India and Australia implemented an economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) and are now negotiating to broaden the scope of the agreement for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA). ECTA was the initial stage of our economic engagement.

 

'We are now entering phase 2 of our discussions, in which we are looking at a much broader range of subjects and taking this into a CECA,' Goyal told reporters at a joint press conference here. Both ministers have expressed 'dissatisfaction' with trade negotiators and stated that they 'will be much more ambitious and aim for a USD 100 billion trade between the two economies,' he said.

 

According to Farrell, the two countries 'can achieve' this goal. On the deadline for completing the CECA negotiations, Goyal stated that while anything done under a deadline is always 'dangerous' because 'you may end up making mistakes,' 'we' must do things quickly. He stated that both trade ministers are committed to expediting the negotiations.

 

Both the prime ministers have 'collectively tasked us to work towards closing the CECA negotiations within this calender year. That would be fantastic. We would work in the same spirit as ECTA and hope for quick results without sacrificing quality,' Goyal added.

 

He also stated that 'we are very dissatisfied' with the USD 30-billion bilateral trade, and that India and Australia have set a target of USD 45-50 billion over the next five years. According to Goyal, there are numerous opportunities to expand cooperation in areas such as education, technology, audio-visual services, and sports.

 

While Australia has some 'very' fine technologies, education institutes, and sports, he believes India can offer more in terms of talent pool, manufacturing base, and startup ecosystem. Concerning increased agri-trade with Australia, the Indian commerce minister stated that several areas of mutual interest are being considered by agriculture ministries on both sides to resolve sanitary and phyto-sanitary (plant and animal) problems.

 

Albanese stated that both countries are looking at firming up the ambitious CECA by 2023 following the first India-Australia summit talks here on March 10 on a range of key issues, while a joint statement stated that the two prime ministers tasked the concerned officials to expedite the conclusion of a Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement (MMPA) within the next three months. Goyal praised Australia for addressing Indian concerns in the agricultural and dairy sectors, which involve small and marginal farmers.

 

'We are looking at win-win opportunities in many areas, such as space technology, Australian education systems and critical minerals, energy storage systems developed in Australia, and sports. 'Our focus has been on capitalizing on each other's comparative competitive advantages to increase trade,' he added. According to Farrell, Australia possesses all of the critical minerals required to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

 

He also stated that Australia shipped goods worth USD 2.5 billion to India in the first month of the ECTA. Farrell went on to say that the Australian wine industry can come to India and help the Indian wine industry by sharing knowledge and quality. 'I hope that in the coming months, we will be able to send our teams from the wine sector from India and invite teams from Australia to come in forging alliances with mutual cooperation,' Goyal said.

 

Goyal added that because Australia has a long coastline, India can learn various water sports from it. Farrell responded to a question about whether Australia is considering including gender and sustainability issues in the CECA by saying that the country is considering these issues as part of the CECA. According to Goyal, India is open to negotiations and wants to engage with the rest of the world from a position of strength, learning from best practices.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that India’s goods and services exports will cross $750 billion in the financial year 2022-23, and that country is expanding rupee trade with several countries, many of which are at an advanced stage of dialogue and finalisation.

 

'Last year, we grew to $676 billion, a massive jump and an all-time record for India, and we are inching close and marching ahead to cross $750 billion of goods and services exports in 2022-23,' Goyal said, at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit 2023. In 2021, India’s goods and services exports were $500 billion.

 

Goyal also said that India is offering its digital prowess in the form of digital public goods for use by the rest of the world.

 

'Singapore and India have recently partnered on UPI and we hope to do the same with the UAE in the near future', he said. UPI is Unified Payments Interface.

 

'We are expanding rupee trade with several countries, many of which are at an advanced stage of dialogue and finalisation,' Goyal said.

 

On the issue of building resilient and global value chains, the minister said that the world must collectively address the challenges of tariff and non-tariff barriers.

 

'There are so many non-tariff barriers and as countries create them, others are tempted to follow suit. It is imperative that nations must address these in a mission mode,' he said.

 

Goyal also pushed for a strong and responsive international institutional framework on the issue of financing global recovery.

 

'A strong and responsive international institutional framework is called for within which we must reform several multilateral organisations and trading arrangements that have, over the years, led some non-transparent economies whose economic systems are totally opaque- to enjoy the fruits of multilateral engagements,' he said.

 

As per Goyal, 'it is time the world called out such countries and made them accountable and transparent'.

 

On emerging technologies, he suggested world skill mapping to find certain nations with skills to be matched with the rich countries which need those skills.

 

'Singapore and India are making serious efforts to do that matchmaking. UAE and India have been doing that…With Australia, we are working on such mobility and migration partnerships,' he said.

 

Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, Canada said: 'Last year, our trade was nearly $21 billion and we will do better. Canada’s portfolio investment in India has reached $70 billion.'

 

She said that Canada’s indo-pacific strategy is 'most ambitious and consequential' and said the two sides are working on a trade agreement that is meaningful and that would make trade seamless and help develop supply chain links, create partnerships in the digital economy in clean tech, agri tech, health tech, and creating solutions for the future in climate change and food security.

 

'The recent pandemic and geopolitics has caused pain and panic in many ways to developing and small economies like ours. A country like mine looks forward to getting support and understanding towards diversification of import and export markets, raw materials, financing and domestic productive capacities,' said Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Energy & Natural Resources, Industry, Commerce and Employment, Royal Government of Bhutan.

 

Sharma also said that ICT allows LDCs with limited products and capacities to be drivers of suppliers in the global economy and not mere consumers.

 

'Landlocked countries must use ICT and avoid being digitally locked. We were geographically locked, let's not be digitally locked,' he said.