Nirmala Sitharaman should focus on infrastructure investment innovation for sustainable development

Incheon, May 3 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday underscored the need to focus on four dimensions — infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion — to achieve sustainable growth on a long-term basis.
He said the global economy has faced trials and tribulations in the past few years, with countries making efforts to protect vulnerable sections of society at the expense of high government borrowing.
Speaking at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Governor’s Seminar on ‘Policies to Support Asia’s Resurgence’, Sitharaman emphasized the need to engage the private sector to boost investment and innovation.
Elaborating on the fourth, the minister said that investment is necessary to encourage infrastructure development that has the potential to create jobs.
The third is for innovation, he said, adding innovative solutions from startups to tackle the problems countries face.
If you don’t have innovative ideas to solve your local problems and inspire your local youth to come up with solutions, you end up spending more on solutions that aren’t right, he said.
“Fourth I is for inclusion,” he said, adding that if all people are not included in the development process, conflicts can arise in society.
“So 4 is for the long term and it involves not only public sector investment but also private sector involvement (is essential) India has spent trillions on infrastructure development in the last 3-4 years,” he said.
Also, the minister said that there is a need to focus on the industries that increase the number of workers and create skill development.
“Industries are reinventing themselves in the Web 3.0 era. Governments, along with industry, must bring the necessary skills to a technology-driven society,” he said.
There should be a conscious effort to move away from revenue expenditure towards capital expenditure, said Sitharaman. Capital expenditure helps build assets and creates a multiplier effect in the economy. It benefits the labor and semi-skilled workers.
For global integration, Seetraman said, the world is not disconnected, so anything that happens anywhere has an impact on every country.
He added that under the G20 presidency, India is trying to talk to every country so that countries come together to provide solutions to the problems faced by the world. PTI TB JT CS TRR