Indian Finance Minister Hon’ble Arun Jaitley speaks on 'Reimagining India' at S P Jain, Sydney

S P Jain School of Global Management’s Sydney Campus hosted the Union Finance Minister of India, Hon’ble Arun Jaitley and his delegation on 29th March 2016. He was joined by the High Commissioner of India Mr Navdeep Singh Suri, Consul General of India Mr B. Vanlalvawna, Australian High Commissioner in India Ms Harinder Sidhu and Deputy Consul General Dr Vinod Bahade. The visit was part of his 4-day Australia visit that will find him meet top Australian business leaders and investors. S P Jain was his first speaking engagement in Australia on his first official visit to Australia.

In his introduction, the High Commissioner of India Mr Navdeep Singh Suri said India saw Australia as a critical partner in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Skill India’ program. “We are working very closely with number of Australian education institutions. Education has become an important part of Bilateral agenda and this was taking place at a different level” said Suri.

President of S P Jain, Mr. Nitish Jain welcomed the Union Finance Minister and remarked how crucial it was for students to pay attention to Mr. Jaitley’s words, as his presence in Australia reflects the excitement the global community has with India’s economic resurgence and how this would positively impact the world economy.

Mr Jaitley addressed students, staff, faculty, members of the Indian diaspora and media on the theme of Reimagining India. He spoke about recent initiatives undertaken by the Indian Government, the growing culture of entrepreneurship in India and the opportunities the country offers for prospective investors.

The Finance Minister said that the Modi government has undertaken various initiatives and reforms and that the Government is working towards ease of doing business by speeding up processes and making them transparent, not only to attract foreign investors but also to persuade domestic investors. He also said that the government has been able to straighten several laws and are now trying to make the taxation systems compatible with global standards.

He highlighted the Governments focus in certain areas and their focus on following the path of fiscal prudence and price stability, he mentioned that all these factors have stimulated and stabilised the economy and India is expected to achieve a growth rate of 8% and above in coming years

Mr Jaitley said other areas of focus for the government are agriculture and infrastructure. “As far agri sector is concerned, since it was a stressed sector over the last two years, we have used the opportunity in every possible way to pour investments in this sector,”

This visit is an inspiring building block for all future engagements of this nature. ‘Such activities are an integral component for an education that goes beyond books and theory. It ensures that the education space is not a sheltered cocoon but closely intertwined with the real world’ said Dr. Susan Looms, Head of S P Jain’s Sydney Campus.