To ring in the new decade, Mint invites thought leaders and heads of companies to share five ideas that will impact the future. Amit Agarwal, SVP and country head, Amazon India, tells Anil Padmanabhan that India’s courage to dream audaciously, combined with the means to achieve, lends credibility to its ambition of becoming a $5 trillion economy.
TAKE ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ GLOBAL IN FUTURE
Easing access to global markets will push India towards greater growth. This can be done by sharing knowledge of the export process and international consumer expectations, faster customs clearance and using technology to unlock value, as well as introducing other enabling policies. This will ensure that every Indian producer is empowered to create not only for India, but the world. We should take ‘Make in India’ global.
INCENTIVIZE INNOVATION
We can help businesses be more competitive to incentivize innovation and expand opportunity. GST reform, which allows for free movement of goods, tax reforms, and improvements in physical and digital infrastructure are examples of reforms that expand opportunities. With startups innovating across domains such as digital payments, online retail, education and software, India has made a solid start.
JOB CREATION FOR WIDER GROWTH
More than half of India’s population is of working age. To leverage our young, working-age population, we need to expand opportunities for millions of people. This requires efforts in the form of skilling and job creation. Digital literacy and science and engineering education can immediately widen the funnel, empowering India’s youth with the skills to succeed in the digital world.
SCALe ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY
Increasing women’s workforce participation from 27% to the global average of 48% can add $700 billion to our economy. This makes opportunity expansion for women critical to India’s $5 trillion dream. Empowering women entrepreneurs, giving their products a platform, and easing their entry into commercial activity can enable millions of women to be employed and generate income.
TAKE LEADERSHIP ROLE IN SUSTAINABILITY
India can lead the world in building climate sustainability and resilience into the fabric of our economy. We can learn from the mistakes of global counterparts. Reducing plastic waste in supply chains, investing in renewable energy sources and considering recyclability of products and materials we use are some steps we need to take.
Source: Livemint
