The document discusses India's strong advocacy for a multilateral trading system through the WTO and highlights a recent informal ministerial meeting aimed at rejuvenating trade discussions. It covers India's agricultural trade concerns and the need for improved e-commerce regulations, while also detailing significant collaborations with institutions like the AIIB and World Bank for infrastructure and technology investments. Additionally, it outlines challenges and opportunities in the global economy and emphasizes the importance of sustainable trade practices and youth employability in India's economic growth.

1. 1
Message from Mr Chandrajit Banerjee,
Director General, CII
I
ndia has been a strong votary of
a WTO and multilateral trading
system. It is keen to re-invigorate
negotiations in the WTO and to
use this forum to develop rules that
will be beneficial to all its member.
There is a need to look at some
segment of e-commerce, including
e-retail, payment gateways, online
entertainment, cloud computing,
artificial intelligence and machine
learning etc.
India has consistently taken the
stand that the launch of any new
round of talks depends on a full
convergence of views amongst
the entire WTO membership on
the scope and framework for such
negotiations.
Indian Industry too has always
supported and championed the
cause of multilateral
t ra d i n g s ys te m .
Buenos Aires was
the first Ministerial
where a business
forum with industry
participants from across the world
was held in collaboration with the
host government.
The March-April edition of the
Multilateral Newsletter captures the
key takeaways from the informal
gathering of Ministers responsible
for World Trade Organization held in
New Delhi. In addition, it also gives
the glimpse of the key happenings
at Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB), Asian Development
Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB),
World Trade Organization (WTO),
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the G20.
iNSIDE
March-April 2018, Volume 5, Issue 2
Focus Story
WTO mini-ministerial: Beyond small
gains.......................................................... 2
AIIB
2nd
Lead-up Conference to 3rd
Annual
Meeting of Asia Infrastructure
Investment Bank — AIIB’s on
'Enhancing Port and Coastal
Infrastructure' concludes in
Visakhapatnam........................................ 3
WORLD BANK
India’s Growth Story Since the 1990s
Remarkably Stable and Resilient......... 4
Project Signing: Government of India
and World Bank Sign Agreement to
Invest in Technology that Addresses
India’s Public Health Priorities............. 5
WTO
2018 Public Forum theme to be
“Trade 2030”............................................ 6
IMF
India: Financial Sector Assessment
Program: Insurance Sector Regulation
and Supervision-Technical Note........... 7
IMF: Call for G20 policies to make
growth more resilient &
widely shared........................................... 7
G20
G20 seeks to strengthen the
contribution of trade to the world’s
economies...............................................8
ADB
ADB, India Sign $80 Million Loan to
Help Boost Youth Employability in
Himachal................................................... 9
ADB Reaffirms Commitment to
Enhance Investments in Economic
Corridors,
Low-Income States.................................. 9

2. 2
I
ndia is one of the founding Members
of the World Trade Organization and
has been working constructively with
Members of the WTO to ensure that
multilateralism is strengthened through
collaborative efforts. In the recent
past, the Bali and Nairobi Ministerial
conferences of the WTO have reinforced
the view that the WTO has the capacity
to deliver.
India hosted the informal WTO
Ministerial Meeting at New Delhi on 19-
20 March 2018 with an aim to rejuvenate
the spirit of multilateral trade, the Doha
Development Agenda (DDA), and of
negotiations between the developed and
the developing countries. The gathering
of Ministers in New Delhi strengthened
the commitment of members to engage
on trade issues of importance to the
entire world.
Over 50 countries joined with the
objective of facilitating an exchange of
views on various issues and challenges
relating to the multilateral trading
system.
The issue central to the said mini
ministerial was the debate on agriculture
trade, investment facilitation, e- commerce
F o c u s S t o r y
WTO mini-ministerial: Beyond small gains
and MSMEs.
As a majority of the population of
the developing countries depends
upon agriculture, food security and
livelihood therefore become the prime
concerns. Agricultural trade needs to be
understood in the perspective of market
access, domestic subsidy and export
competition, which are the main planks
of this contentious issue.
The dynamic links between investment,
trade and development in today’s
global economy, as well as the need
for closer international cooperation
at the global level to create a more
transparent, efficient, and predictable
environment for facilitating cross-border
investments. The framework aims to
improve transparency and predictability
of investment measures, streamline and
speed up administrative procedures and
requirements, and enhance international
cooperation, information sharing, the
exchange of best practices and relations
with relevant stakeholders, including
dispute prevention.
For e-commerce, a key determinant is the
internet infrastructure In this context two
elements are important. First, access to
internet on a reliable basis; and second,
access to high speed internet. Thus,
mere internet penetration is not enough
for purposes of online business.
With the utmost degree of transparency,
among others, issues of relevance
to MSMEs, reduction of trade costs,
including areas such as trade facilitation,
shipping and logistics, and procedures
and requirements related to origin;
promotion, including through cooperation
with other multilateral institutions,
of better access to trade finance for
MSMEs; identification of issues of
particular interest to MSMEs that
could be addressed in WTO Trade
Policy reports; and consideration of
how technical assistance and capacity
building initiatives could take into
account the trade needs and challenges
of MSMEs.
Therefore, India’s WTO agenda, of
addressing the unresolved issues
in agriculture and development
multilaterally, risks being sidelined
by the collaborative efforts of the US,
the EU, Japan, Canada, Norway and
Singapore, among others, on intensifying
plurilateral work on e-commerce trade
rules, in New Delhi.

3. 3
A I I B
T
he Department of Economic
Affairs (DEA), Ministry of
Finance, Government of India and
in close collaboration with the Research
and Information Systems for Developing
Countries (RIS) and the Confederation of
India Industry (CII) organized the two-
day Regional Conference on “Enhancing
Port and Coastal Infrastructure” which
concluded in Visakhapatnam throwing
light on SAGARMALA project, port &
coastal infrastructure and Regulatory
issues; Investment in Coastal Areas for
Promoting Blue Economy; Developing
the Shipping Ecosystem - Ship Repair
2nd
Lead-up Conference to 3rd Annual Meeting of
Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank— AIIB’s on
'Enhancing Port and Coastal Infrastructure'
concludes in Visakhapatnam
and Dry Docks; Catalyzing the Modal
Shift for Inland Waterways and Coastal
Shipping; Strengthening India’s Maritime
Support Infrastructure-Containerization,
Bunkering and Dredging. The
Government of India is hosting the
third Annual Meeting of the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on
25th
& 26th
June 2018 in Mumbai. This
Conference was lead-up to the annual
conference.
The Inaugural session saw participation
of Mr Kailash Kumar Aggarwal, Joint
Secretary (SAGARMALA), Ministry
of Shipping, Government of India; Dr
Vishwapati Trivedi, Former Secretary,
Ministry of Shipping, Government
of India; Mr Yee Ean Pang, Director
General of Investment Operations, AIIB;
Mr Shakil Alam, Director (Multilateral
Institutions), Ministry of Finance,
Government of India; Prof. Amitabh
Kundu, Distinguished Fellow, Research
and Information System for Developing
Countries (RIS) and Mr G S Shivkumar,
Past Chairman, CII-Andhra Pradesh.
Click here for more information
Left to Right - Dr Priyadarshi Dash, Research Associate, RIS; Dr Vishwapati Trivedi, Former Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India; Prof. Amitabh
Kundu, Distinguished Fellow, RIS; Mr G Murali Krishna, Chairman, CII-Visakhapatnam & Managing Director, Fluent Grid Ltd. and Dr Shailesh Nayak, Former
Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India and Director, National Institute of Applied Sciences (NIAS)

4. 4
W o r ld B ank
T
he Indian economy is set to
revert to its trend growth rate
of 7.5 percent in the coming
years as it bottoms out from the impact
of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
and demonetization, a new World Bank
report says.
The India Development Update, released
is a biannual flagship publication of
the World Bank which takes stock
of the Indian economy. The issue
titled “India’s Growth Story” describes
the state of the Indian economy,
shares India’s growth experience and
trajectory over the past several decades
India’s Growth Story Since the 1990s Remarkably
Stable and Resilient
and provides a long-term perspective
on India’s growth outlook. Over the
last 50 years, the Update notes that
India’s average growth has accelerated
slowly but steadily across sectors –
agriculture, industry and services – and
become more stable. This is reflected in
increasing labor productivity and total
factor productivity. After growing far
more rapidly before the global financial
crisis, the economy has grown at an
average rate of about 7 percent since
2008–09.
The Update centers around an
assessment of what it will take for
India to return to growth rates of 8
percent and higher on a sustained
basis. To sustain its growth path,
India will need to keep a close eye on
several factors to make the country
more resilient to shocks: the changing
landscape of open trade, reforms in the
banking sector, strengthening financial
institutions, and regulatory supervision
of the financial sector. Deepening its
structural reforms in the areas of health,
education and service delivery will
be critical for development of human
capital required to sustain growth.
Click here for more information

5. 5
W o r ld B ank
Project Signing: Government of India and World
Bank Sign Agreement to Invest in Technology that
Addresses India’s Public Health Priorities
The Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project (I3) was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance,
on behalf of the Government of India; Mohd. Aslam, Managing Director, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC); and Hisham Abdo, Acting
Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank
T
he Government of India and
the World Bank signed a $125
million agreement to support
India in developing an innovative
biopharmaceutical and medical devices
industry, which is globally competitive
and addresses the country’s major
concerns around barriers to affordable
healthcare.
The Innovate in India for Inclusiveness
Project (I3) will support Government of
India’s Biotechnology Industry Research
Assistance Program (BIRAC), set up five
years ago to support innovative start-ups
and collaborations through strategic
partnerships.
This project, will nurture next generation
technical skills; provide companies with
advanced shared facilities to conduct
clinical validation; link clinical trial sites
with networks of expert advisors and
international bodies; and strengthen all
institutions involved in the facilitation
and adoption of global innovations,
technologies, and licensing models.
Click here for more information

6. 6
W TO
T
he WTO’s 2018 Public Forum,
to be held on 2-4 October,
will discuss how technological
developments are affecting trade and
how to ensure that trade in 2030 will
continue to help society address the
major challenges facing the world.
The Public Forum will focus on how
technology is changing the way we trade. In
light of these technological developments,
2018 Public Forum theme to be “Trade 2030”
it will assess how trade can continue to
contribute to job creation, growth and
sustainable development, particularly in
the context of the Sustainable Development
Goals under the 2030 Agenda. The Forum
will debate in particular how to make trade
in the future more sustainable and how to
ensure that the benefits are shared more
widely.
In addition to the main theme of “Trade
2030”, the Public Forum's three sub-themes
will be sustainable trade, technology-
enabled trade, and a more inclusive trading
system.
Sessions for the Public Forum are
organised by civil society, academia,
business, governments, parliamentarians
and intergovernmental organizations. The
call for proposals will open soon.
Click here for more information

7. 7
I M F
M
s. C h r i s t i n e L a ga rd e ,
Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund
IMF: Call for G20 policies to make growth more
resilient & widely shared
(IMF), issued the following statement
at the conclusion of the Group of 20
(G20) Finance Ministers and Central
Bank Governors Meeting in Buenos
Aires, Argentina.
Click here for more information
T
he technical note provides
an assessment of the recent
development of regulation and
supervision of the Indian insurance
sector. The note focuses on several
key developments in the regulation and
supervision of the insurance sector since
the last FSAP (2011), and evaluates the
extent to which the recommendations
of the 2011 India FSAP have been
addressed.
The note does not present a full
assessment of observance of the
International Association of Insurance
Supervisors (IAIS) Insurance Core
Principles (ICPs). The sector has
continued to grow in scale and diversity,
surmounting the adverse impact of
the global financial crisis, although
penetration remains relatively low. Public
sector insurers continue to command a
majority of the market and life insurance
predominates, with about 75 percent of
total premiums.
Non-life insurance is dominated by
motor insurance. Penetration rates
are unchanged from 2011 and
generally lower than in comparator
countries, especially in non-life. While
traditional sale channels continue
to predominate, there is increasing
diversity in distribution. Risks in life
insurance are relatively well spread
and in non-life are mainly short-term.
The sector is profitable and solvency
exceeds minimum requirements, but
with exceptions.
Click here for more information
India: Financial Sector Assessment Program:
Insurance Sector Regulation and Supervision-
Technical Note

8. 8
G 2 0
T
he official communiqué of the
G20 finance ministerial meeting
addresses challenges posed by
new technologies, infrastructure as an
asset class, and crypto assets.
The final communiqué of the First
G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers
and Central Bank Governors reflected
G20 seeks to strengthen the contribution of trade
to the world’s economies
global economic leaders’ commitment
to “strengthen the contribution of trade
to our economies.”
The participating finance ministers,
central bank governors, and international
organization leaders stated that
“international trade and investment
are important engines of growth,
productivity, innovation, job creation,
and development,” adding that, in the
face of global economic challenges,
“this is our moment to take action to
address structural growth impediments,
rebuild buffers, reduce excessive global
imbalances, and mitigate risks.”
Click here for more information

9. 9
A D B
this opportunity by providing support
in developing relevant and good quality
TVET programs, thereby improving job
prospects of nearly 65,000 youths from
2017 to 2022.
Click here for more information
(Multilateral Institutions), Department of
Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance,
signed the loan agreement for the
Government of India, and Kenichi
Yokoyama, ADB Country Director in
India, signed on behalf of ADB.
The state will need more than 500,000
skilled workers by 2022 across various
trades. The Himachal Pradesh Skills
Development Project will help seize
ADB, India Sign $80 Million Loan to Help Boost
Youth Employability in Himachal
T
he Asian Development Bank
(ADB) and the Government
of India signed a $80 million
loan to help modernize technical and
vocational education and training
(TVET) institutions and improve the
skills ecosystem in the state of Himachal
Pradesh to boost employability of the
state’s youth.
Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary
A
sian The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) and the International
Solar Alliance (ISA) signed a
cooperation arrangement to promote
solar energy deployment in Asia and the
Pacific, including solar power generation,
solar based mini-grids, and transmission
systems for integrating solar energy
into grids.
The signatories to the arrangement
were Upendra Tripathy, Interim
Director General of ISA, and Bambang
Susantono, ADB Vice-President for
Knowledge Management and Sustainable
Development, in the presence of India’s
Finance Minister and ADB Governor.
Both parties agreed to cooperate on
knowledge sharing and developing
technology roadmaps for the promotion
of solar energy, develop financing
instruments to support solar energy
deployment, and conduct studies and
consultations to explore mobilization of
concessional financing through trust
funds or special funds administered
by ADB.
Click here for more information
ADB, ISA Commit to Promote Solar Energy in Asia
and Pacific Region
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