6th CII Global Summit on Skill Development: Australian Minister for Industry reiterates Prime Minister Modi’s vision

CII held the 6^th Global Summit on Skills Development with Australia as the Partner country on 10 November 2014 in Mumbai. The Day 2 i.e 11 November is dedicated as the 3^rd India – Australia Skills Conference.

Australian Minister for Industry, Mr Ian Macfarlane reiterated Prime Minister Modi’s vision on Skill Development.

Hon’ble Australian Industry Minister Mr Ian Macfarlane, and Past President CII Adi Godrej addressing at CII Global Summit on Skill Development 2014 on 10 November, 2014 at Mumbai. (L-R) Mr Ian Macfarlane…

He lauded the Indian government for the focus on Skill Development with formation of the new ministry and the announcement of Mr. Pratap Rudy as the Minister for Skill Development.  This reiterates the Indian Government’s commitment. He highlighted that India has close links with Australia and a large Indian skilled work force is already contributing to Australia’s growth. Australia has an evolved skill eco-system and is recognised worldwide. Mr. Macfarlane stated that, with the 100 member Australian Skill delegation, who have come to India, it is a great opportunity for both the countries to collaborate and create a sustainable partnerships on skills at CII 6^th Global Summit on Skills Development with Australia as the Partner country.

Launch of India Skills Report 2015 at CII Global Summit on Skill Development 2014 on 10 November, 2014 at Mumbai. (L-R) Mr Dilip Chenoy, CEO & Managing Director, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) Govt of

With the new government’s focus on skill development leading to employment generation Mr. Adi Godrej, past President CII and Chairman Godrej group, said that it is an opportune time for discussing requirements and reform. He said that the globe is looking to India to capture the business opportunities being presented and it is the Demographic Dividend that will work in India’s favour.  He stated that there is no dearth of Jobs but a dearth of skills that the Industry needs to focus. He proposed a PPP mode for growth in industry through higher productive manpower. He explained that the Godrej group is already working on a focused manner in skilling youth and have trained 1,50,000 people . They have now taken upon them the target of further training 5,00,000 people in some of the traits specific to the Group’s strength

Mr. Pamod Bhasin, Chairman- National Committee on Skills Development and Founder and Vice Chairman – Genpact India and Chairman Skills Academy, mentioned that with CII being the largest industry body, has been playing a very critical part in the skill development landscape. He pointed out the importance of Technology as the enabler for the realization of the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Make in India’. He further elaborated that the Skills ecosystem in the Service sector is more mature as compared to the Manufacturing industries, hence to facilitate the ‘Make in India’ we need to ensure that there is greater momentum generated towards manufacturing skill development.

Mr. Dilip Chenoy, MD and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation laid out the new Skills structure where the National Skills Development Corporation and National Skills Development Agency will now fall under the ambit of the new Skills Ministry. He stated that NSDC being the PPP body with the industry participation is looking to Skill-Assess- Certify youth for productivity linked employment.  He explained that to fulfil the Skill-Speed –Scale mantra we need to train people across all industries on the soft skills along with technical skill. Language, Computer literacy and financial literacy skills to be made integral part of all training.

There were 400 delegates that attended the Summit which had speakers from Germany, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc who spoke on key aspects of Skills Development, covering the role Industry in Skill Development, Technology as enabler for ‘Make in India’, the potential of Trainers as the Value Creators. The discussion sessions covered the Global case studies on Skill Development and how they can be adapted to expedite skill development in India. There were discussion on how there can be greater collaboration within SAARC countries as a region in collaboration with more evolved countries in skills and acceptance of each other’s standards.

Industry, Government and various stakeholders in the skills space came on the Global Summit platform which formed the highlight of the event.

BEPS IS IN THE OFFING AND INDIA IS GEARING TOWARDS BEPS: AKHILESH RANJAN

7 November 2014, New Delhi: The BEPS Actions aim to bring in a clear, responsive and transparent regime to facilitate certainty for businesses to function across various jurisdictions. “BEPS is in the offing and the Rules are just months away. Businesses should gear up, prepare themselves for the changes in the tax legislation, and Government is equally open to consider views of the industry”, said Mr. Akhilesh Ranjan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance. Mr Ranjan was addressing the gathering at the inaugural session of the Conference on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) – Impact on Tax Landscape, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi today.

Addressing the skepticism of the industry on BEPS, Mr Ranjan highlighted that “BEPS is a movement and not a business vs tax administration debate. We must understand where the world is moving, and not just India, the Rules are important for multi-jurisdictional transactions of both domestic and international companies. It consists of a set of rules that would be acceptable worldwide”.

The conference echoed the growing voices of MNCs and Indian corporates alike for a stable, certain and less litigious tax environment to ensure that investors in the Indian economy are well positioned to plan their investments and estimate tax outcomes in a reasonable and consistent manner, which would facilitate in understanding the evolving tax landscape around the world and in India.

“The OECD and G20 countries are focused on solving the BEPS issue in a structured and timely manner. This is evident from the fact that they have been able to align more than 40 countries across the world for this impressive project. It’s just a matter of time before their recommendations are adopted by the respective countries in their tax policies and practices. It is the right time for the Indian industry to understand BEPS and its implications and equip itself for these global tax changes.” said a Deloitte spokesperson.

Speaking at the conference, EY spokesperson, suggested that there should be a clear distinction made between unreported income escaping tax and the reported income under business arrangements, where there are two opposing views on taxation. Whilst there can be no doubt about the need to monitor the former category, there is a need for sensible and balanced implementation of BEPS principles on the latter category.

Addressing the gathering, Mr John Staples, Senior Policy Adviser, Corporation Tax Strategy, HM Treasury, UK said that in the backdrop of the current global economic meltdown, concerns have been raised on bringing a fair and transparent international tax system to support the growth of businesses globally, with a uniform set of rules. ‘BEPS aims to provide more level playing field across borders. It is an opportunity to homogenise the tax rules internationally, and minimize disputes.’

Echoing the voice of the Business and Industry advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), Mr Archie Parnell, Vice Chairman, BIAC Tax Committee & Managing Director, Goldman Sachs stressed that BEPS presents a great opportunity and businesses across the globe should be involved systematically. ‘The BEPS project aims at rationalizing international tax rules, which have lost their relevance in the fast evolving business scenario. During the last year, though there has not been universal agreement, business has been heard in the BEPS actions; and the country by country reporting rules have been made more concise, though not minimized.’

MNEs use a wide range of cross border tax planning techniques that result in little or no tax liability – such results are referred to as “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting”.

OECD and G20 jointly established BEPS project to address global concerns. In October 2013, the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation of tax matters established a sub-committee on BEPS issues for developing countries. The sub-committee is mandated to work with relevant bodies and OECD with a view to highlight issues on BEPS with officials in developing countries.

Justice for All, Appeasement of None: Piyush Goyal

In an extremely topical and interesting session titled ‘A New India: Free, Fair and Prosperous?”, Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy of India, emphatically said that the stress of the new Government is on creating an India that is for all, where every Indian participates in its growth story and prospers.

He was speaking at a session at the India Economic Summit, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Economic Forum in New Delhi today and was joined by Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, India and social activist Aruna Roy as panelists, offering their perspective on the issue. The session was moderated by Nik Gowing, presenter BBC World News.

Assessing his Government’s progress in its first few months, Minister Goyal said that this is a Government which believes in transparency, action and results, and has succeeded in inspiring confidence across the globe with the initial steps it has taken. People are optimistic that a new beginning has been made, and that far-reaching changes will soon be visible.

Activitist Aruna Roy questioned that view and said she was sorely disappointed in the Government which seemed to marginalize and neglect certain sections such as the poor, women and minorities. She talked of two-Indias – one prosperous, pro-business, the other poor and deprived. There are several issues that need to be addressed suitably in order to have an India where “women, the poor and the minorities feel free, confident and safe, and with a say in the part of the process.” These include the pending Lok Pal Bill, the now void MGNREGA scheme, the lack of transparency and clear road map by which to judge the Government’s performance, the way people were being displaced for ‘development’ projects, jobs made defunct due to the flooding by Chinese goods and rising ethnic tensions which seemed instigated for political mileage.

Responding to her, Minister Goyal stated that he did not see two Indias or any contradictions and that Government was taking a holistic and long term view. He said that infrastructure projects are aimed at improving the living standard of the poor. He stressed that this Government is pro-poor and has undertaken several initiatives such as the Jan Dhan Yojna to help get them into the mainstream. On sharing information and details with the people, he said that his Government spoke through its actions, and communicated with the people through several platforms. Infact, he said, this was the only Government that held press conferences after 100 days in power and interacted with the media. Reacting strongly to the view that ethnic tension was being instigated for political reasons, he refuted the charge and said that people should stop looking at India narrowly. “This divisive agenda has to stop”, he said, adding that Modi stands for justice for all, development for all and appeasement of none.

The focus, he reiterated, is on engaging, enabling and empowering people for long-term benefits, bringing about transparency and policy related changes that would benefit all. Urging people to be more patient in judging them, he said on a lighter note, “This is a 5-day match, not a T-20.”

Sounding an optimistic note and showing immense faith in the new Government, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, India said that this Government is involving and reaching out to everyone by focusing on business and society and people through campaigns such as Swachch Bharat, the Jan Dhan Yojna etc. Admitting that much needed to be done to address issues such as corruption he said corruption starts with discretion and that the Government’s effort to move to the e-platform was a step in the direction of eliminating corruption. He said he was optimistic that positive changes are underway.

Need to communicate that economic reforms are not against the common man: Chandrababu Naidu

There is a need to communicate that economic reforms are not against the common man but actually helps them. This was stated by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at a session in the India Economic Summit being organized by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi today. Mr. Naidu was in conversation with Mr. Vikram Chandra, Presenter and Editor, NDTV.

Mr. Naidu pointed out that economic reforms create wealth and are therefore necessary. However, there is a need for the political system to respect the mandate given to them. Therefore, it becomes all the more necessary to enter into a dialogue with the people to let them know how the reforms can benefit them. Highlighting some of the initiatives that he had undertaken ever since his government took office, he stated that he had a unique challenge of building a new state as well as a new capital.

He has now set up seven missions in areas such as urban development,  infrastructure development, industry and knowledge economy among  others. In addition he was seeking to set up five grids in the areas of water,  roads, power, gas and fibre optic networks. All of these missions and grids  were designed to interconnect the state and bring the benefits of reforms to  rural areas.

He pointed out that he was working in mission mode in areas such as  agriculture, poverty eradication and irrigation among others.

While praising the Prime Minister’s initiatives, he stated that he had adopted these initiatives in Andhra Pradesh but had tweaked them to suit the conditions in the state. For example, Make in India has been tailored to Make in Andhra Pradesh.

He stated that his government was working on taking advantage of the long coastline of Andhra Pradesh and making Andhra Pradesh a port hub and a gateway into India. Ten additional ports were being developed to augment the four existing ones. The Chief Minister stated that he was adopting the PPP method to develop the infrastructure in his state.