Sustainability is way of life for India: Goyal

Sustainability has been at the core of the G20 agenda for several years now but for India, sustainability is a way of life, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday at CII Partnership Summit 2023 here.

His comments come amid increasing stress on sustainability by western countries in multilateral and bilateral trade deals. Several sustainability related compliances introduced by EU, UK and US are expected to have a bearing on New Delhi based suppliers. 

Goyal said that it is important that we build resilience in our economies and enforce sustainability while focusing on inclusivity, adding that partnerships between citizens, communities and countries, when working together in the spirit of cooperation, collaboration and sometimes competition, collectively can contribute to a more stable and prosperous future.

Businesses must accelerate to become responsible, innovative, sustainable and equitable, but must also identify partnerships to achieve these goals, said H.E. Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade & Industry, Republic of Singapore. He said that beyond the extensive and friendly relations between the governments of India and Singapore, they also share deep and enduring friendships, kinships, and shared histories and cultures.

H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, United Arab Emirates said that global issues require global solutions and cannot be resolved by a single nation or a small group of nations, and require significant concrete actions. UAE is dedicated in collaborating with international partners bilaterally and multilaterally in order to tackle the world problems and build a more sustainable and prosperous future for all, he added.

Vikramjit Sahney, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Punjab said that Skilling is the only solution to address global unemployment where the jobs gap is at 473 million. At CII’s B20 Summit, Sahney emphasized on skilling in rural areas to generate gainful employment for the youth in the villages.

Sahney added that women need to have fair share in skill ecosystem and involvement of students at school level for vocational education is very significant he added.