Category: Economy

Indian medical graduates will now be able to practice medicine in foreign countries, as the National Medical Commission (NMC) has received the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) recognition status for a period of 10 years.

According to a Union Health Ministry press release on September 20, the recognition will enable medical graduates with degrees from Indian institutions to pursue post-graduation or practice medicine in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where WFME recognition is required.

All 706 existing medical colleges in India have received WFME accreditation. Any new medical colleges established in the next 10 years will also automatically gain this status.

The WFME is a global organisation dedicated to improving the quality of medical education worldwide. Its recognition will enable the commission to enhance the quality and standards of medical education in the country by aligning it with global best practices and benchmarks. It will also augment the international recognition and reputation of Indian medical institutions and professionals, foster academic collaborations and exchanges, and promote ongoing improvements and innovation in medical education.

WFME recognition process entails a fee of Rs 4,98,5142 ($60,000) per medical college, which covers expenses related to site visits, travel, and accommodation for assessment teams. This implies an approximate total cost of Rs 351.9 crore ($4,23,60,000) for all 706 medical colleges in India to seek WFME recognition.

Singapore has seized the title of the world’s freest economy, toppling Hong Kong after a 53-year reign, according to a report unveiled by the Canadian think tank Fraser Institute. This marks the first time since the inception of the Economic Freedom of the World Index in 1970 that Hong Kong has been displaced from the number one position. Switzerland, New Zealand, and the United States have secured the third, fourth, and fifth spots, respectively.

The index assesses economic freedom through various criteria, including ease of international trade, the liberty to enter and compete in markets, and business regulations, among other benchmarks. Hong Kong’s decline in ranking can be attributed to new regulatory barriers to market entry, rising business costs, and restrictions on foreign labor, as noted in the report.

The data in the 2023 report is derived from 2021, representing the most recent year with comparable statistics across 165 jurisdictions. It evaluates the economic freedom of individuals, reflecting their ability to make autonomous economic decisions.

Other notable mentions in the report include the United Kingdom, which claimed the ninth spot, while Japan and Germany secured the 20th and 23rd positions, respectively.

Around 22 countries are currently engaged in negotiations and exploring the possibility of conducting bilateral trade with India using the rupee, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in an interview on September 15.

Sitharaman stated, “Approximately 22 countries are actively negotiating with us and considering the feasibility of conducting bilateral trade in rupees. This interest is driven, in part, by the fact that many of these countries are facing a shortage of dollars,” as she spoke to a news channel.

The minister also emphasised that India possesses a better understanding of the needs of the developing world and is committed to aligning their goals with the global developmental agenda.

India has recently introduced several initiatives aimed at promoting the use of the Indian rupee for international transactions. Through collaborations with banks from 22 different nations, India has established special rupee vostro accounts within local banks, facilitating the exchange of national currencies.

In July 2023, India signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates that enables trade settlement in rupees rather than dollars, further advancing the country’s efforts to reduce transaction costs by eliminating the need for dollar conversions.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has hailed Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi for achieving “groundbreaking consensus on the role of digital public infrastructure” at the G20 Summit in the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals.

“The #G20 reached a groundbreaking consensus on the role of digital public infrastructure as a critical accelerator of the Sustainable Development Goals. I’m optimistic about the potential of DPI to support a safer, healthier, and more just world. Kudos to PM Narendra Modi,” Gates posted on X, tagging the Indian Prime Minister.

The New Delhi Declaration of the G20 Summit in India, from September 9-10, welcomed the ‘G20 Framework for Systems of Digital Public Infrastructure‘ — a voluntary and suggested framework for the development, deployment and governance of DPI — recognising DPI’s role in the delivery of services at a societal scale. The G20 leaders called for a safe, secure, trusted, accountable and inclusive DPI for service delivery and innovation.

DPI refers to blocks or platforms, such as digital identification, payment infrastructure and data exchange solutions that help countries deliver essential services to their people, empowering citizens and improving lives by enabling digital inclusion, such as the India Stack — the identity system Aadhaar, payment platform UPI and others.

According to a G20 document prepared by the World Bank, India has achieved in just six years the financial inclusion targets that would otherwise have taken at least 47 years.  

The United States and Saudi Arabia are negotiating to obtain metals in Africa to support their transition to alternative energy sources, said a media report. A government-supported Saudi enterprise would purchase stakes in $15 billion worth of mining assets in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Namibia, allowing US businesses to purchase some of the production.

In July, Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma’aden) and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired 10% of Brazilian Vale’s base metal unit in a similar deal; American investment group Engine No. 1 had acquired 3%.

The media report added that the PIF contacted Congo in June about investing $3 billion, through its joint venture (JV) with Ma’aden, into the country’s cobalt, copper, and tantalum industries. The JV between the PIF and Ma’aden, Manara is also concentrating on nickel, lithium, and iron ore.

The White House is looking for financial support from other sovereign wealth funds, but negotiations with Saudi Arabia have advanced the most, added the news report.

Metals and minerals are vital for energy transition, such as batteries for electric cars.

Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund is closing its only office in China, it said on September 7, though it will continue to invest in the country.

The fund, which is one of the world’s biggest investors, is among a number of financial firms reviewing their presence in China due to the tightening of regulatory oversight, which is affecting the political ties between Beijing and the West. In April, Canada’s third-largest pension fund, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan closed its Hong Kong-based China equity investment team earlier this year. One of the world’s largest pension funds, it would no longer have country-focused stock-picking teams based in Asia.

As of the end of 2022, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which operates the Norwegian fund, owned shares worth about $42 billion in about 850 Chinese companies. These investments will now be managed from the firm’s Asia hub in Singapore. The decision to close its Shanghai office was driven by “operational considerations” and does not affect the fund’s investments or its investment strategy in China, NBIM said in a statement.

NBIM set up its Shanghai office in November 2007, a year after the Chinese regulator granted the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund a license to trade directly in mainland China’s stock exchanges. It was the firm’s first Asian office. It opened another office in Singapore in 2010.

Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Young Liu has backed India as an important country for the future of manufacturing, saying that the opportunities for development of electronics manufacturing and industrial chains in the country were huge.

Speaking to the media at a group event in Taipei, Liu said that India would be able to build the ecosystem faster than China, which took 30 years, on the back of experience and new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

In July this year, while addressing SemiconIndia 2023, Liu said that he was optimistic about the direction of India’s semiconductor roadmap and asserted that Taiwan would be India’s most trusted and reliable partner.

Operational in India since 2005, Foxconn has been making smartphones for Xiaomi over the past couple of years. The largest contract manufacturer of iPhones in the world is also the largest maker of iPhones in India. It is also keen to set up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in the country. In another statement, Liu had said that the company’s Indian arm has achieved a turnover of about $10 billion on an annual basis, and that there is a lot of investment potential in the South Asian country. The company that operates nine campuses in India, across Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, intends to expand its presence through manufacturing campuses in Karnataka and Telangana, he added. 

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) on September 8 gave conditional approvals for five companies to import 2 gigawatt (GW) of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia.

The five companies managing the projects are Pacific Medco Solar (formed by PacificLight Renewables, Medco Power Global and Gallant Venture), Adaro Solar International (formed by PT Adaro Clean Energy Indonesia), EDP Renewables APAC, Vanda RE (formed by Gurin Energy and Gentari International Renewables) and Keppel Energy. Their import capacities have been approved at 0.6GW, 0.4GW, 0.4GW, 0.3GW and 0.3GW, respectively.

With these projects, solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) manufacturing plants will be set up in Indonesia. The EMA added that these projects will aim to start commercial operations from the end of 2027. The companies will next conduct marine surveys on the proposed route for their subsea power cables, as approved by the Indonesian authorities.

The conditional approvals are built on related memoranda of understandings (MOUs) between Singapore and Indonesia, including one on low-carbon energy and cross-border electricity interconnection signed on September 8 by Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif and Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng on the sidelines of the Indonesia Sustainability Forum held in Jakarta on September 7-8.

Lauding the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) as a “game-changing investment” and a key element in global job creation and food security, US President Joe Biden emphasised the global significance of the IMEC launched on September 9 in New Delhi.

Biden highlighted his country’s commitment to investing in the novel rail line extending from Angola towards the Indian Ocean, and envisaged it as a crucial step to foster job creation and enhance food security on a global level. He forecasted the term ‘economic corridor’ to resonate prominently in the forthcoming decade.

The IMEC is in collaboration with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, France, Italy, Germany, and the US. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi conveyed that this corridor would be a major medium of economic integration between India, West Asia, and Europe, and show a sustainable way to the whole world.

The collaborative project aims to accomplish greater economic integration between nations through its two outlined paths: the east corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf and the northern artery binding the Arabian Gulf to Europe. These corridors will leverage a sophisticated network of railways and shipping routes backed by digital and electricity cable networks and clean hydrogen export pipelines to facilitate smoother transit of goods and services.

India’s online payments platform, unified payments interface (UPI) achieved a remarkable milestone by crossing 10 billion transactions in August with a total number of transactions reaching a record 10.58 billion.

According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the real-time payments system, UPI transactions surged 67% year-on-year, raising the total transaction amount 47% year-on-year to ₹15.76 lakh crore in August.

In July, UPI transactions of 9.96 billion were recorded, while the transaction amount stood at ₹15.34 lakh crore. The system saw 9.34 billion transactions in June 2023 with a total transaction amount of ₹14.75 lakh crore.

After its huge success in the domestic market, India is in talks with other countries to take the payment system global, especially in developing countries. The country also showcased the UPI system at the G20 meetings, enabling the delegates to experience real-time transactions over the phone. India’s neighbours Nepal and Bhutan have adopted the UPI system, while the payment system is expected to be operationalised in Sri Lanka soon.

India also entered into a partnership with Singapore to link the payment systems for an easier flow of remittances. The country is helping build digital infrastructure and platforms for partner countries and enter into commercial linkages and partnerships with existing financial platforms to make payments for Indian travellers and migrants easier.