Education has potential to boost export earnings: Piyush Goyal

He expressed happiness that the Commerce Ministry and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), under the ministry, were taking the lead in exploring the potential of education as a service for boosting India’s export earnings and expanding the global reach of Indian education.

Goyal said the future growth engines of the world were likely to be less-developed or developing countries such as India. Exposure to India, he noted, would therefore benefit students from developed countries in their future careers.

He also highlighted that the government has finalised nine Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with developed economies. According to him, nearly two-thirds of global trade is now covered by India’s FTAs because the country has engaged with more developed and mature economies.

This, he said, reflects a shift in India’s approach to global engagement. India no longer negotiates from a weak position or a colonial mindset but engages with the world with confidence and from a position of strength.

Emphasising India’s growing global role, Goyal said if the country was currently contributing around 20 per cent of global growth and has emerged as an engine of growth, younger generations around the world would increasingly need to work with countries such as India.

He also highlighted the importance of internationalising India’s trade, manufacturing and services sectors and engaging with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and machine learning.

These, he said, would become increasingly important if India was to sustain its current pace of growth, emerge among the world’s top three economies and become a global technology powerhouse.

Educational institutions, he added, would need to reassess their curricula and teaching methods accordingly. Subjects such as international trade and India’s FTAs should be included in academic curricula so that students understand the opportunities available in the global economy.