Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India's growth story and his government's economic reforms at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Manila on Monday and portrayed the country as an attractive investment destination. He said the task of transforming India was moving at an unprecedented scale.
The PM committed to make India a global manufacturing hub and turn the country's youth job creators instead of job seekers. He exhorted the power-packed audience to invest in India, saying over 90 per cent of the Indian economy was open to foreign direct investment.
He said that processes to start companies in India and to secure clearances have been simplified. He mentioned that South and South-East Asia would be the growth engine of the world, and that India attaches greater importance to boosting economic ties with the ASEAN nations.
Modi said cashless transactions in India have registered a 34 per cent growth since demonetisation.
He said that technology is being put in place to ensure transparency. Demonetisation as well as measures like the linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts led to the formalisation of a big part of the Indian economy. "We are working day and night towards easy, effective and transparent governance," he said.
He said large sections of population in India did not have access to banking services, but the Jan Dhan Yojana changed that in a matter of months and transformed the lives of millions. He also said about 1,200 outdated laws have been deleted from the statute book.
The PM highlighted the implementation of GST and said a complex process has been successfully completed. He referred to India climbing 30 places in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' ranking this year, the biggest jump by any country in a single year.
Modi arrived in the Philippines on Sunday and had a packed schedule in Manila on the second day. He attended the ASEAN-India and the East Asia summits and held bilateral meetings with world leaders, including US President Donald Trump.
PM Modi visited International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, 65 km from Manila. He unveiled a plaque marking the inauguration of the "Shri Narendra Modi Resilient Rice Field Laboratory". He then visited the Mahaveer Philippine Foundation that provides free Indian-made prosthesis 'Jaipur Foot' to needy amputees.
Modi also interacted with several amputees. He tweeted an image, writing, "'I want to be a policeman' my young friend told me... Glad to see the Jaipur Foot giving wings to the aspirations of many youngsters like him."
He also met members of the Indian community at a reception hosted by India's envoy in Philippines. It is the duty of Indians to work to make the 21st century India's century, the PM said there.
The year 2017 is special in Asean-India ties, with both sides commemorating the silver anniversary of their dialogue partnership, and the 10-member grouping is also celebrating its golden jubilee. The Modi government has in celebration of the ties invited all the heads of the 10-member Asean nations for the Republic Day Parade in January.
Addressing Indian diaspora in Manila, PM Modi attacked the previous UPA government over doling out gas subsidies and said since 2014, three crore households have been provided with gas connection and by 2019, five crore households would have connections.
He also said the government has changed the discourse on corruption.
Earlier, public used to discuss how much money has been lost in 2G, CWG and coal scams, but post 2014, it has been asking how much has been recovered, said the PM. Early in his address, he also spoke about India's contribution to world peace.
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