NEW DELHI: The Union government has decided that the Indian delegation for this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will not be headed by Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal.
The team for the January 16-20 meeting at Davos in Switzerland will instead be headed by Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnav and Smriti Irani. While Vaishnav is the minister for railways, and electronics and information technology, Irani heads the ministries of women and child development and minority affairs.
Goyal, who is in the US to participate in the India-US Trade Policy Forum, is expected to be back by January 13, well in time to lead the delegation to the WEF. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Goyal’s ministry plays a key role in all investment-related talks at WEF meets.
The latest notice on the national investment promotion and facilitation agency Invest India website says that the “DPIIT has strengthened India’s presence at this year’s WEF in Davos for all global investors looking to make a home in India, one of the world’s most liberal investment destinations.”
Ironically, the department under Goyal’s ministry handles India’s presence at Davos, but the minister’s name is missing from the list of participants. This has surprised many. Among other Union ministers likely to accompany Vaishnaw and Irani are Anurag Thakur, minister for information and broadcasting, and youth affairs and sports, and Mansukh Mandaviya, minister for health and family welfare, and chemicals and fertilizers.
Besides them, delegations from various states would also attend. They include a team from Uttar Pradesh led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The Maharashtra team comprises Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis. Teams from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are also expected to take part in the five-day meet at the alpine resort town.
The high-level Indian delegation will strengthen India’s position at the WEF 2023 as an important stakeholder shaping the global narrative.
Over the course of five days, Invest India has organised several roundtables, panel discussions and fire-side chats to deliberate on policy action and investment support in renewable energy, sustainability, infrastructure, healthcare and medical devices, startups, trade and logistics, technology, institutional investments, etc.
The theme of this year’s meet is “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”.