“There is a lot of optimism in India, which is also the basis of India’s Presidency of G20. India has been the fastest growing economy for three years in a row, in the middle of sluggish global growth. India will be the third largest economy in the world in a few years, a 10 trillion Dollar economy in a decade and larger than Germany and Japan in a few years. It is important for India to continue reforms, build better infrastructure, invest in education”, said Mr Borge Brende, President, World Economic Forum, Switzerland.

Mr Brende highlighted that countries should be allowed to be competitive and buy what is most relevant for their business. Future prosperity and poverty eradication will be based on open trade and strong Global Value Chains. Global Value Chains are at the core of future growth, which have to be inclusive and adjusted for climate change. Mr Brende was delivering his address at the session on “Inclusive GVCs for Resilient Global Trade and Investment” at the B20 Summit India 2023 in New Delhi on 23rd August 2023.

“Global Value Chains are at a crossroads that would lead to regionalisation of trade for years to come. The transportation sector has learnt from the geo-political and environmental crisis and is now more resilient. India’s growth is amazing. UAE has a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with India and when there are less restrictions and obstacles, people can communicate and trade in a better manner”, said Mr Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, DP World, UAE.

Mr Robert Maersk Uggla, Chairman of the Board, A.P. Moller, Maersk, Denmark said that in the last ten years, the geo-political fragmentation, labour disruptions and natural disasters have had a significant impact on the complexity of Global Value Chains. Companies need to resort to innovative measures to tackle the negative impact of such disruptions.

“India has very competitive labour cost, availability of engineering, design and technical expertise. There is a good opportunity of collaboration for the space science industry”, highlighted Mr Francisco Gomes Neto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Embraer, Brazil.

Mr Innes Willox, Chief Executive, AI Group, Australia mentioned that the early 21st century can be summed up under five D’s – massive disruption, significant decarbonisation, major diversification, massive digitalisation and significant demographic change. These five D’s highlight the major transition happening in any global economy. Navigating this transition is going to be crucial, for business, Government and the community as a whole.

Mr Raj Subramaniam, President and Chief Executive Officer, FedEx, USA mentioned that “resilience has to backed up with efficiency, otherwise it could be inflationary in cost. This can be done with the help of technology and making the supply chains smarter. Diversification of supply chains is quite nuanced and complicated. There is opportunity to increase global manufacturing in India, further reducing the cost of logistics due to the benefits of scale.”

The session was moderated by Ms Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & Managing Director, Tractors & Farm Equipment Ltd, India.