Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the three-day?event -set to be held from?January 17 to 21, is to be held virtually this year.?The PM delivered the address through video conferencing.

After a brief discussion on Covid-19 with Klaus Schwab, the executive Chiarman of the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister began his speech.?

The Prime Minister reminded the world about the third wave of Covid-19 and India's fight against it. He reiterated India's determination to administer 160 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses within one year. In the 75th year of India's independence, he said,?India has given the world, a "bouquet of hope"?which includes immense trust in democracy,?technology to empower the 21st century world and the temperament and talent of the Indians. This multilingual and multicultural environment of India teaches us how to work for the benefit of humanity.?

One Earth, One Health?

On the issue of health, he said, the multicultural environment of India?is not only a strength for the country but also for the world. The "One Earth, One Health" vision of India has helped the world to be medically robust. It has supplied medicines to the world and has saved millions of lives.?India is the world's third-biggest medicine manufacturer, and is proving to be the "pharmacy of the world".?

IT sector of India, he said, worked for 24 hours and saved the world from a lot of problems. More than 50 Lakh software developers are working in India and it is sending record software engineers to the world. India holds world's third highest number of Unicorns. More than 10,000 startups have been registered in India.

India holds the world's biggest and most secure payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface. Just in the last month, 4.4 billion transactions have taken place through UPI.

Aarogra Setu and CoWIN apps,?matter of pride for India

The Prime Minister said that it is a matter of pride for India that right from vaccination registration to certificate generation and tracking of Covid-19 patients, India has apps like Aarogya Setu and CoWIN application. The online facility from slot booking to generating vaccination certificates has attracted the attention of many countries towards India.?

India has overcome its License Raj image

There was a time, the Prime Minister said, in India when most of the businesses in the country were having government interference. India was infamous for its License Raj.??To facilitate business, India is minimizing its interference in them and facilitating ease of doing business. Corporate tax rates in India have been simplified and made it one of the most competitive in the world. In the last year, India has cut down as much as 25,000 compliances and corrected the retrospective tax to make it easier for businesses to prosper. Sectors like Drones, space and geospatial mapping have been deregulated by the Indian government.

It is the best time to invest in India

India is now fully capable of becoming a reliable partner in the Global Supply Chain, the Prime Minister said. India is also establishing free trade agreements with multiple countries at the moment. The Prime Minister then said,?it is the best time to invest in India as the youth of Indian youth has a high zeal for entrepreneurship. In 2014, there were only 100 startups in India but today the number is over 60,000. The youth of India is totally ready to facilitate investments and make global businesses reach new levels in the country, the Prime Minister added.

Most important projects related to digital and physical infrastructure were accelerated in India in the pandemic. More than 6 Lakh villages in India are being provided Optical Fibre connectivity. He then listed that $1.3 Trillion was being spent on connectivity-related infrastructure, a target of $80 billion dollars in innovative financing tools like asset monetisation has been set, he said.?

The Prime Minister said that India's focus is not only on easing the process but also to incentivise investment and production.?

Make in India, Make for the World?

With the motto of Make in India, Make for the World, India is compatible to smoothen the Global Supply chain. Not only the telecom, defence and aerospace sectors but also the semiconductor sector have a bright future in India, the Prime Minister added. India's growth plan, he added, is intended to be green, clean, sustainable and reliable.

Addressing the important issue of Climate Change, he said,?India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070.?Even though India adds 5% to the global carbon emission and hosts such a large population (The Prime Minister mistakenly quoted the figure to be 70% of the entire world population), it is 100% compatible to fight climate change. He added that India is 9 years ahead of the target it set at the Paris Climate summit.

The culture of consumerism has proliferated the challenge of climate change. The culture of take, make, use and dispose economy should be steered into the direction of a circular economy, the Prime Minister said. He also emphasized on the role of pro planet people in fighting the climate change.

Who else is?attending the event?

PM Modi is will be joined by other heads of state like the?Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Japan PM?Kishida Fumio, Australian PM Scott Morrisson, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Israel's Naftali Bennet, European Commission chief?Ursua von der Leyen and others.? The event will see?participation from some of the top leaders of?industry leaders, civil society and international organisations. The event will be focused to discuss the most critical issues being faced by these stakeholders in today's time.?