New Delhi, May 06 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday said global demand for talent aligns with India’s growing supply. He noted that groundwork has been laid to ensure Indian professionals gain better access to global opportunities. On global access for Indian talent, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar says, "...There is a demand in the world and availability in India, and the basic groundwork done to enable Indian talent to gain global access is there now..."
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00:00My ministerial colleague, Shri Jain Chaudhary Ji, Ashish Dhawan Ji, Manish Sabarwal Ji,
00:05Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to join you all this morning for the launch of the Gatti Foundation.
00:14I wish this initiative all the best as it seeks to promote and facilitate global access to talent from India.
00:23As you would all note, the two key words here are talent and global.
00:30And in many ways, bringing them together has been the responsibility of the Ministry of External Affairs.
00:39For reasons that I will dwell upon, it will be even more so in the times to come.
00:47Let us start with talent.
00:50At our current stage of development, there are two realities that stand out.
00:55One, that in the past, we have not developed and therefore not leveraged our human resources to the extent we could and should have.
01:09And the other, that it is not feasible for India to develop rapidly by emulating the pathway of other successful Asian economies that preceded it in the last few decades.
01:25The drivers of our growth are different, as is indeed the landscape, and I would argue the strategy.
01:35It is this awareness that has contributed, amongst others, to the government's approach towards the Vixit Bharat.
01:45Now, all of us are familiar with a wide range of initiatives and programs that have targeted the socio-economic welfare domain in the last decade.
01:58They start with child and maternal health, immunization, school admission and retention, access to electricity, piped water and roads, and move on to nutrition, to housing, to health coverage, and to support for entrepreneurships at different scales.
02:18These are supplemented by making it easier to do business, by improving the ease of living, by building a modern, accessible, and affordable infrastructure, expanding skills and education capacity, and promoting make, design, innovate, and research in India.
02:39I sum it up in this manner, because typically, we are used to looking at each of these aspects in their particular silos.
02:52But if you consider the cumulative impact of all these developments, it is clear that we have now entered a cycle of sustainable talent creation on a major scale in this country.
03:06The issue then arises as to how that talent is nurtured, how it is expanded, deployed, and upgraded.
03:17Much of that, obviously, has to happen at home.
03:21And this has its own debates and discussions, including how best we accelerate manufacturing, whether technology can be generated without deepening our industrial culture,
03:32the optimization of agriculture and food processing, the support for self-employment, startups and innovation, and not least, the Vistas opened up by our digital and AI future.
03:44Now, in all of that, the world can, and does play a role.
03:52Foreign investment, collaboration, and trade are some of the noteworthy dimensions.
03:57Outsourcing, understandably, also got its fair share of attention.
04:01More recently, there is, I would say, greater interest in the growth of Global Capability Centers, GCCs, in India that take the quality of economic activity to a much higher level.
04:18However, while recognizing the value of all these endeavors, it is necessary that we also pay greater attention to opportunities beyond our borders.
04:30And the reason for that is the emergence of the global workplace with a global workforce.
04:40These are phenomena spurred by sharp demographic changes, demands of new technologies and their diffusion,
04:49compatibilities in culture and work ethos, as well as the premium put on trust and resilience in many fields.
04:56Each of these are an outcome of a particular trend in world affairs, whether it is social habits accompanying development,
05:07the impact and deployment of creative products and services, sharper strategic competition among major powers,
05:14or the insecurities from the COVID experience.
05:17Now, we are gathered here, all of us, to explore the opportunities for Indian talent in such a scenario.
05:28And I truly believe that these are significant enough to warrant greater attention and effort from all of us.
05:36There are currently roughly about 34 million Indians and PIOs living and working abroad.
05:47About half of them, again, that's a very approximate figure, half of them are our citizens.
05:55Perhaps a third are located in the Gulf and the rest of them are spread across other geographies,
06:01mostly developed economies.
06:03However, given the trends that I spoke about, the possibility of expanding that, even in the near term, is very serious.
06:14Bear in mind that we Indians have also developed by now a strong history of employment exploration abroad.
06:23Obviously, we are not unique in this regard.
06:26But nevertheless, we are unusual in that this has been sustained over several generations to differing regions at various levels of skills.
06:37As a result, there is the techie, the entrepreneur and the professional in the United States,
06:44the blue-collar and the service provider in the Gulf,
06:47the self-employed and the agri-sector in Europe and North America,
06:51as well as the scientists and researchers in so many other countries.
06:57Moreover, many global professions like seafaring, airlines and the hospitality sector
07:04have already tapped into our human resources pool in a significant level.
07:09That there are so many students abroad is also a factor, as they often transition into jobs.
07:19Economies like Australia or Germany have seen a significant increase of working Indians in the last few years.
07:26Through migration and mobility partnerships, as well as specialized skilled workers' agreements with 22 nations,
07:32we have created a pathway, as well as a brand.
07:39Now, let me emphasize that these are not hypothetical possibilities or even prospects that are somewhere on the horizon.
07:49The need for talent abroad is a situation that is actually upon us today.
07:56Let me give you some concrete examples.
07:58Only yesterday, and the Japanese ambassador is sitting here before me,
08:04the Speaker of Japan was here to advocate an action plan
08:08that would create a concrete and predictable flow of Indian skills to his country.
08:16It would help take forward the SSW, the Specialized Skilled Workers Agreement,
08:20that we had concluded a few years ago.
08:23Let me give you another.
08:24Another, Israel, as an example, where there is already a flow of workers in different domains.
08:32Mauritius has a similar demand and has concluded an understanding with us.
08:38Malaysia has opened up many more sectors to Indian skills, especially construction.
08:45We have been traditionally a source country for Singapore,
08:48and their requirement will upgrade, even as their economy does.
08:52The German Chancellor was here last October,
08:56and he spoke of increasing the employment visas for Indians by Forex.
09:02My counterparts in Italy, and again I note the ambassador here before me,
09:07in Italy, in Spain, in Austria, in Greece,
09:10have all shown appetite to tap into our human resources pool
09:15as urgently and effectively as possible.
09:18This, I emphasise, is just the tip of the iceberg,
09:25and we must prepare for what is below the waterline.
09:29My short point is that there is a demand in the world,
09:34an availability in India,
09:36and the basic groundwork done to enable Indian talent to gain global access is there.
09:44Now, how well they do that,
09:47and what will be the scale,
09:50I think that is up to us.
09:53Having just come from the waves gathering in Mumbai,
09:57where the orange economy of culture, creativity, and identity was explored,
10:02I am tempted to continue this presentation with a further metaphor of colours.
10:10So let me start with the green and the brown economies,
10:13with their associated infrastructure as a good place to begin.
10:19They will clearly coexist for some time to come,
10:22but each will become smarter and infuse newer technologies.
10:27They will require a wide spectrum of talent
10:30that will grow both in size and complexity.
10:34We have already witnessed in the Gulf
10:36increasing demand for such human resources.
10:40I should add, by the way of example,
10:42that today, if one looks as to where Indian nationals live and work,
10:48the two largest economies are not the U.S. and U.K.,
10:52as people typically think.
10:54They are actually UAE and Saudi Arabia.
10:56That there is an infrastructure surge in India
11:01adds to the experience and capabilities of our corporates
11:05and of our personnel.
11:07In some sectors, like renewable energy, water, or power transmission,
11:13our people are already securing openings by their track record at home.
11:18This applies to the managerial as well as the working levels.
11:22At a time when our engineering and vocational training institutions are growing rapidly,
11:27the ability to address this market has actually improved.
11:31But again, it is the connect to the employment space
11:36through networking and customizing the workforce
11:39which is the challenge that must be addressed.
11:42So let me now move to the white and silver economies.
11:47And they are experiencing an even more acute shortage of trained personnel.
11:53In many developed societies, health demands are rising
11:57even as the local talent pool is shrinking.
12:01Innovative practices and new technologies can only partially fill that gap.
12:06As our own medical and nursing schools expand,
12:11these possibilities can be more effectively exploited.
12:15Particularly in these sectors,
12:16there is a strong cultural and linguistic element
12:20for which we need to cater.
12:24There are then an assorted mix
12:26from the orange and the gold to the blue and the green
12:29that will clearly benefit from greater digitization.
12:34So too will other domains in an era of all-encompassing change.
12:40Such times will require not only new mindsets and frameworks,
12:45but also the accompanying mobility and interactions.
12:49We have already seen the semiconductor
12:52and emerging technology projects all over the world
12:55slowdown because of inadequate availability of talent.
13:01Some countries have a history of addressing such situations.
13:06Others are now getting into that game.
13:10And what I do want to say is that similarly,
13:15global service sectors like shipping, airlines and hospitality
13:19are today struggling with post-COVID challenges,
13:23including attitude towards work demands.
13:25So all of this today really opens up
13:29new opportunities for those more willing.
13:33There is naturally the issue of how we adjust
13:37to the demands of the global workplace
13:39to optimize benefits.
13:42Conceptually, it is vital that we promote legal mobility
13:46and strongly discourage, I would argue,
13:49even prohibit non-legal wants.
13:51The challenge of the black economy has to be faced
13:55from the viewpoint of the talent flow,
13:58our societal good, as well as of national security.
14:01Currently, mobility is largely regulated
14:04by the Immigration Act 1983,
14:07which was designed to address the demands
14:09of a particular geography in a certain era.
14:13However, times have changed,
14:15and our vistas have expanded.
14:16We need to be more promotional and aware
14:20of new possibilities,
14:22even while taking care of the vulnerable.
14:25This issue is currently being examined by the government.
14:29It is natural that as more Indians travel abroad,
14:34that the expectations they have of their government
14:36are carried with them.
14:38The last decade has brought up numerous situations
14:42where evacuation operations had to be undertaken.
14:46But even as a routine exercise,
14:49our citizens expect, legitimately expect,
14:52to be backed up in difficult situations.
14:55It may be a quick replacement of a lost passport
14:57or the predicament of those who are not paid their wages
15:01or mistreated by their foreign employers.
15:04It can be cultural situations
15:07where the rights of Indians are not adequately respected.
15:11These baskets of issues have gained salience
15:14in our diplomatic endeavours.
15:16From establishing an effective grievance portal
15:19to creating a responsive fund
15:21for the needs of the vulnerable,
15:23we have sought to institutionalise
15:26and to routinise taking care of Indians abroad.
15:30It is only then that they will have the confidence
15:33to fully explore the global workplace.
15:37Friends, our government today
15:39has initiated a range of skills training,
15:43vocational education,
15:44and professional preparation efforts
15:46for the Indian workforce
15:48to be more productive in the contemporary era.
15:52However, the magnitude of opportunities before us
15:56are so large
15:58that it takes a whole-of-the-nation approach
16:00to be fully realised.
16:02This is an effort
16:04in which the contribution of every stakeholder
16:07is valuable and welcomed.
16:10As we contemplate our engagement with the world,
16:14as India moves up
16:15to become the third-largest economy,
16:18much of this will be people-centric.
16:20Our talents and our skills
16:22will not only be a resource
16:24we have to bring to the table,
16:26but will be very much part of our branding
16:29and of our reputation.
16:30A more interdependent
16:32and technology-driven world
16:34with all its challenges and needs
16:36will only put a greater premium on it.
16:39It is up to us
16:41to make the most of these times,
16:43and we look forward
16:44to working with you
16:46in that regard.
16:47I thank you for your attention.