8^th Global Economic Summit (GES), a high-level international Summit, on the theme ‘Services: Enabler of Growth for Trade and Industry’ is beingorganised by World Trade Center Mumbai and All India Association of Industries (AIAI), from March 6-8, 2019 at World Trade Center Mumbai.

The objective of the Summit is to promote MSME competitiveness in international trade, considered as the economic lungs that stimulate economic activities of a nation. The Summit will provide an opportunity for MSMEs to engage with experts, business leaders, technocrats, etc. from India and overseas.

The prestigious Summit will be addressed by Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, Mr. Fayyaz Ismail, Hon’ble Minister for Economic Development, Government of Maldives and other eminent thought leaders, business leaders, policy makers, economists and experts from across the world making this event a truly stimulating and engaging one.

The Summit has received overwhelming response from over 25 countries and prominent states presenting an excellent opportunity for debates, discussions, networking and forging collaborations.

Acclaimed economists and experts namely Dr. Aaditya Mattoo,  Research Manager, Trade and International Integration, Development Research Group, World Bank;  Dr. Robert B. Koopman, Chief Economist and Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, World Trade Organization; Dr. Rupa Chanda, RBI Chair Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; Ms. Rasha Omar, Country Director – India, International Fund for Agricultural Development and Mr. Pascal Kerneis, Managing Director, European Services Forum (ESF) will share their valued perspectives at this Summit.

Among key business leaders who will share the stage are: Mr. Ashish Bhat, Executive Vice President & Head, Digital Factory, Siemens; Mr. NSN Murthy, Partner & Lead – Smart Cities, PWC India; Mr. Sauvik Banerjjee, Vice President, Tata Industries and Mr. STANISLAV BAŠA, Member, Toshiba European Business Partner Advisory Council.

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore is associated with the Summit as Knowledge Partner. The Summit is supported by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India

(Make in India), Maharashtra Industry Trade and Investment Facilitation Cell (MAITRI),  the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, World Trade Center Dresden, Indian Business Chamber of Luxembourg  and the Estonia International Chamber of Commerce, enhancing the prestige of the Summit.

The Summit is an excellent knowledge sharing platform to understand and meet the needs of today’s MSMEs. It has become imperative for trade and industry to embrace digitisation and technologies such as blockchain, 3D Printing, smart logistics, artificial intelligence, which are transforming production patterns, transportation system, financial transactions, trade and ultimately economic and business models.

Today’s transitional global economy is spearheaded by the services sector paving new opportunities in every sphere of economic activity. The Summit will generate discussions to provide in-depth analysis of the forces shaping the services sector influencing the course of the global economy.

The theme of the 8^th edition of the Summit is highly relevant in the context of Government of India’s planned target to increase the size of India’s service sector to USD 3 trillion by 2025 as also provide fillip to the ‘Make in India’ programme. The Summit will discuss, among others, issues propelling India’s speedy transition  towards a digital economy driven by innovative technologies  and their  impact on financial services, retail, urban transportation, logistics, tourism, real estate and a host of other new age services.

World Bank economist Dr. Aaditya Matto stresses on the vitality of services for economic growth and according to Dr. Mattoo, services trade will continue to grow driven by digitisation and demographics.

A resilient services sector is key to the success of Government of India’s flagship programmes such as Make in India, Skill India, Digital India and Standup India, among others. The Government of India has set out an ambitious programme to transform India into a USD 1 trillion digital economy and this Summit will explore various opportunities that will arise for businesses in the services domain as also the enormous opportunities for MSMEs to promote and integrate services in strengthening manufacturing and agriculture sectors, to improve productivity, quality thereby attain global competitiveness.

The Highlights of the Summit are Conference, Exhibition, Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Government (B2G) and Government-to-Government (G2G) meetings, Release of Handbook, Awards and Field Visits to Nashik, including Engineering Cluster, Winery and Food Processing Unit.

The Summit will be attended by representatives from trade and industry, consular corps, academia, think tanks, government and non government organizations from more than 25 countries, including India.