G20 meet: ‘Greatest challenges we face today can only be solved by working together’, says Sherpa Amitabh Kant

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The Development Working Group (DWG) under India’s G20 Presidency will dwell on building upon the country’s digital technology and ecosystem for inclusive and sustainable growth across the world, according to India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant.

The Indian model, which is distinct from the Fintech and European ones, has grown 10 years which otherwise could have taken 50 years, Kant said. This has helped in providing digital identity, financial inclusion and direct benefit transfer, Kant asserted at a media briefing ahead of DWG’s meeting in the financial capital of the country.

“The basic challenge is that many of the multilateral institutions do direct lending, they don’t do lending based on first-loss guarantee or credit enhancement or blended finance. The U.S. Treasury Secretary has said that these institutions should be restructured,” Mr Kant said.

Stating that India has built UPI, Bharat Pay, JAM Trinity, COWIN, DIKSHA, Swayam and many things, Mr. Kant said, “We have also created an inclusive and scalable model of health infrastructure, we are both the pharmacy and vaccine capital of the world, we have converged Ayurveda and Yoga.”

In a briefing about the G20 summit in Mumbai, Kant also said, “PM Modi has set the narrative for our presidency. He has said that the greatest challenges we face today can only be solved by working together. Our first concern should be towards those whose need is greatest which means citizens, and countries whose need is the greatest as G20 is a global body.”

Talking about the G20 event, he said the G20 is the most powerful forum as it comprises both developed and developing countries. It comprises over 85 per cent of the Global GDP, almost 75 per cent of global trade, and almost 90 per cent of global patents.

“It is powerful because it is not unwieldy like the UN which has 186 countries very difficult to arrive at a consensus,” the G20 Sherpa said.

“This will be the biggest event in India. This is the first time that G20 will be spread through the year from December 1 to December 1, 2023,” he added.