The Global Exhibition on Services (GES), a three-day event that will bring participants from as many as 60 countries to New Delhi, will give a much needed exposure to service providers in India and help them network, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.
The GES, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, will serve as a platform for extensive business networking, joint ventures, exchange of ideas, brand visibility and exploration of newer revenue models.
“We are not forgetting about services at the time of ‘Make in India’. While manufacturing is important, so are services. The sector has made it in a big way through its sheer efforts,” Sitharaman said. The Minister pointed out that services need to be given as much importance as manufacturing and areas, apart from IT and ITES, also need to be highlighted.
The focus sectors in the exhibition include IT & telecom, tourism, media and entertainment, healthcare, logistics, professional services (including project exports and banking & financial services), education, R&D, space and the small & medium enterprises engaged in services.
Around 300 exhibitors from diverse sectors and more than 500 foreign delegates will participate in the GES. There would be more than 3,000 B2B meetings and a series of seminars and conferences on relevant sectors, a Commerce Ministry release said.
Trade balance India’s services exports in 2014-15 at $151 billion exceeded import of services at $78 billion. “It has helped us in neutralising the imbalance of merchandise trade,” Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said.
Countries that are participating include the US, Germany, Pakistan, China, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, South Korea and Russia. The exhibition, which will be an annual event, is being jointly organised by the Commerce Ministry and industry body CII.
As many as 10 economic Ministers from participating countries including Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb, Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Nepali Commerce Minister Sunil Bahadur Thapa and Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton are scheduled to participate.
Seventeen States including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir will also be part of the exhibition.