Essential For Emerging Economies To Become Engines Of Growth

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 2 said it is essential for emerging economies to become growth engines and help in resolving challenges facing the world. She further said the G20 Presidency has come at a crucial stage to the emerging economies, stressing that three years are critical for the global economy, which is going through a reset. India currently holds the presidency of G20, which is a grouping of developing and developed countries. India has taken over the presidency from Indonesia and will hand it over to Brazil later in the year.

Addressing the Indian diaspora in Seoul, the minister said India is being noticed worldwide not just because it is the fastest-growing large economy – this year as well as the coming year – but also because of the way in which it has handled the pandemic and economic revival.

 The minister is in Seoul to attend the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). She said while the advanced economies today are looking at a long-drawn recession, central banks in those countries are raising interest rates and dealing with inflation. “In such a situation globally, how can economies, particularly emerging market economies, who are all showing good signs of growth…is it possible for us to sustain that growth, is it possible for us to give greater energy to that growth momentum so that emerging markets can literally be the engines of growth and help the global crisis be solved,” Sitharaman said.

The minister said the G20 troika — Indonesia, India and Brazil– are all emerging economies, and hence it is important that the voice of the global south be heard. The ‘Global South’ largely refers to countries in Asia, Africa and South America. “The three years are going to be important for the global economy to reset itself and readjust to the global realities,” she said, adding there is a recession on one hand and economic revival from COVID on the other.

 Also, artificial intelligence, deep data analytics and the Internet of Things are being used extensively, she added. India, Sitharaman said, has already adopted a digital payment system, faceless tax assessment and digital ID, and is scaling up technology at a very fast pace. Companies in India are also resetting themselves, using artificial intelligence and adapting to the requirements of the 21st century. patent laws

She also invited NRIs settled in South Korea to contribute to developments taking place in India in the fields of technology and innovation. Sitharaman on May 2 met ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and urged the multilateral funding agency to support India with more concessional climate finance, as the country’s economic progress can have huge positive impact regionally and globally.

 During the bilateral meeting with the president here, Sitharaman said India continues to be the most significant country for ADB’s sovereign and non-sovereign operations. She also expressed support to ADB for innovative financing mechanisms to enhance the lending capacity of the bank. She advised ADB to introspect and assess how the bank can effectively support developing member countries. Asakawa during the meeting reiterated ADB’s commitment of providing USD 100 billion climate finance to its member countries and also thanked India for support to ADB’s innovative finance facility for climate in Asia and the Pacific.

Source: Millennium Post