PM Modi to address Kautilya Economic Conclave today

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday deliver an address at the three-day Kautilya Economic Conclave, to be held from October 4 to 6 in the national capital.

The third edition of the Kautilya Economic Conclave will feature nearly 150 Indian and international academicians and policymakers discussing issues faced by India and other countries of the Global South.

The conclave, being organised by the Institute of Economic Growth in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, will be inaugurated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday. Prime Minister Modi will participate at around 6.30 p.m. and will address the gathering, an official statement said.

The conclave's focus this year will be on themes such as reforming the international financial architecture, financing the green transition, geo-economic fragmentation and the implications for growth, India and the middle-income trap, jobs and skilling, artificial intelligence and public policy design, and the principles for policy action to preserve resilience.Among those slated to attend are External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who will address the closing session; Bhutan's Finance Minister Lyonpo Lekey Dorji; PM Modi's PrincipalSecretary P. K. Mishra; Centre for Global Development's President Emeritus Masood Ahmed; Policy Research Institute's (Bangladesh) founder Chairman and Chief Executive Zaidi Sattar; Peking University's Institute of New Structural Economics Dean Justin Yifu Lin; Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's Chief Economist Erik Berglof; Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Secretary General Eduardo Pedrosa; NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Beri; 16th Finance Commission Chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya; and World Bank's Regional Vice President for South Asia Martin Raiser, among others.Some of the discussions over the three days will range from how the Indian economy can create more regular jobs, how the rules-based multilateral system must adapt to prevent geo-economic fragmentation, and how progress through multilateral consensus can be made possible.Besides, topics such as harnessing India's comparative advantage in AI, ML, and Fintech for job creation; assessing India's current growth trajectory and considering ways in which India can maintain productivity growth by maximising catch-up growth and developing innovation capabilities; studying the reforms needed to make the financial system more resilient as well as efficient; identifying the longer-term reforms needed to achieve the goals of sustainable development; and the challenge of managing climate change and achieving an energy transition to renewable energy will also be discussed during multiple sessions of the conclave.The conclave will also showcase India's increasing role as a bridge-maker of countries in the global south. The discussions in the conclave will serve as a precursor to the upcoming Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, COP 29, and the Brazilian G20 Leaders' Declaration.