India to showcase reforms under Modi at WEF

India will showcase reforms and policy changes undertaken in the last three years at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the largest ever ministerial delegation and an equally large corporate contingent.

Scheduled to be held during January 23-26 in this Swiss Alps town, the theme of WEF this year is 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World', and India is ready to showcase its contribution in many areas of policy reforms and climate issues, which have helped the globe, an official participating in the meeting said.

Modi will be the first Prime Minister to attend the annual meeting of the WEF since 1997, when the then prime minister H D Deve Gowda had attended the meet. As many as six union ministers will be participating in the event. While the Prime Minister will attend the Inaugural Plenary Session on January 23, the ministers will participate in 25 sessions organised on next-generation industrial strategies, infrastructure acceleration, fourth industrial revolution, future of employment in manufacturing and production in the annual meeting, and share their views on transforming the nation into a New India by 2022.

The annual meeting will be attended by 350 political leaders (among them over 60 heads of state), the chairs and chief executive officers of the world's most important companies and over 1,000 leaders from among other walks of life.

India has been entrusted with the responsibility of hosting the welcome reception at the event. Indian food and yoga will mark the commencement of the ceremony.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar, and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region of India Jitendra Singh are the six Union Ministers taking part in the annual meeting.

As many as 11 round tables will also be organised with Invest India and CII with existing and potential investors.

"India has undertaken a wide range of transformative reforms and policy changes. The world needs to know about the benefits of GST and demonetisation, and FDI reforms at Davos the largest gathering of world leaders," the official said, and also expressed the hope that the prime minister may make some big announcement from the international stage.