Davos 2018: Indian PM says country "laying out the red carpet” to boost economy
The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that his country is “removing red tape and laying [out] the red carpet” in its bid to boost the economy.
He told the opening session of the World Economic Forum that Davos marks an opportunity to create “a shared future in a fractured world”.
He said that the last time an Indian prime minister came to Davos was in 1997, when India’s GDP was slightly more than $400 billion: “Now, it is about six times greater.”
Modi added that the political environment has changed drastically since then: “Nowhere were there any signs of Brexit [in 2007].” He said "globalisation is slowly losing its lustre".
Elsewhere, the prime minister claimed it has become much easier to “invest in India, travel to India, manufacture in India, export from India”.
Modi had earlier tweeted: “At Davos, I look forward to sharing my vision for India’s future engagement with the international community.”
He is on a major push to attract more business to his country. India will be the world’s fastest-growing major economy in 2018 this year, according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook. It’s GDP has been growing at about 7% a year since Modi took office in 2014.
Some of his measures have faced criticism, including the scrapping of 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes as part of a crackdown on corruption.
