Union Minister of Finance, Government of India, Mr Arun Jaitley, spoke at the SP Jain School of Global Management’s Sydney campus on 29th March.
The Minister was leading a high-powered business delegation from Confederation of Indian Industry. The speech at the SP Jain Business School was the Finance Minister’s first official engagement in Australia.
Welcoming the Finance Minister, Nitish Jain, President, SP Jain School of Global Management said, “We are a global B School of Indian origin with campuses in Dubai, Singapore, Mumbai and Sydney and will shortly be opening our 5th campus too."
Naturally, when speaking at a business school, FM Jaitley focused on education and the need to skill up India. “As far as skills are concerned, it is tough for the government as well as the private sector to accommodate everyone. Therefore it is imperative for having schemes which will help people generate jobs for themselves. We have identified 70-80 skills and we will set up technical institute to train people,” FM added.
Invitees to the talk were senior representation from the Indian and Australian business community along with NSW politicians and members from the Indian community.
The FM elaborated further, “India’s GDP is just one indicator of its growth and at times can be lopsided. We need to consider other factors. In the current scenario, there has been an increase in FDI, rise in urban demand. But it shouldn’t be concentrated in urban areas only. There has to be an increase in private sector participation and rise in rural demand (coupled with good monsoon and agriculture), all this has to be achieved, then only there will be over all prosperity.”
Students of SP Jain School of Global Management span 30 different countries, and many were delighted to hear the FM’s address.
Economics professor at the Sydney campus, John Lodewijks, said that by listening to Minister Jaitley speak, the students got a far better idea of the Indian economy and the policies the government has initiated to address developmental challenges. ‘No book or lecture by a teacher can achieve this. In fact, the opportunity to interact with the Minister simply takes learning to another level altogether.”
The School worked in close consultation with the Indian High Commission and Consulate to organise the visit. It also worked alongside 3 partners for the event: the Confederation of Indian Industries [CII], Ernst & Young [E&Y] and the Australia-India Business Council [AIBC].
