Creating Higher Value in Food Sector need of the hour” - Mr. Subhash Desai, Hon’ble Minister of Industries, Maharashtra at the 5th Global Economic Summit 2015

At the World Trade Center's (WTC) Expo Center on Thursday, the vibe was unanimous, invigorating and forward looking when the who’s who of the global agriculture, farming and food processing fraternity gathered under one roof and inaugurated the Global Economic Summit (GES 2015). The summit centered on the pertinent theme ‘Enabling Food For All’ brought together key representatives from 28 countries. Present at the momentous occasion was Mr Subhash Desai, Hon’ble Minister of Industries, who presented a keynote address and emphasised on the need for value addition in the sector and an enhanced role of global partnerships to  make India’s agriculture more effective.

The opening session saw an eclectic combination of views from international speakers including Mr. Ghazi Abu  Nahl, Chairman, World Trade Centers Association, N.Y. and Chairman, WTC (Cyprus); Mr. Wojciech Jankowiak, Deputy Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, Poland; and Mr. Vladimir Vladimirov, Governor of Stavropol region, Russia. The international speakers brought the spotlight on to the relevance of the theme, ‘Enabling Food for All’and presented best practices from their respective regions. Each of these voices from different corners of the world had one thing in common - their keenness to collaborate and bring together best practices to ensure food security and enable use of science and technology towards enhanced and ecological agricultural practices for India.

Mr Subhash Desai, Hon’ble Minister of Industries, Government of Maharashtra in his keynote address brought to surface the need for global partners and experts to support the Indian initiative to help save agricultural production from going waste. He shared his vision to create more jobs on Maharashtra especially by diverting people engaged in agriculture to the industry sector.

Mr.Shyam Khadka, Representative in India, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in his theme address emphasized on the need for public and private sector to collaborate towards ensuring food security. He also stressed on the need for enhancing the social protection rather than focusing on agricultural growth alone. “India has means and know-how, integrate them. Enabling Right Food for All can become a reality,” he added.

Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Center Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries welcomed the key dignitaries and also set the day in action while highlighting the key challenges faced by agriculture sector in India, including droughts, water linkages, need for cold storage, food parks, optimal use of pesticides and fertilizers among others. He also brought the focus to reassessing the listing of 23 key food items on the commodity exchange.

A research based strategy paper titled “Enabling Food for All” and a handbook which will serve as a reference guide on agriculture, food and technology, were released to set the context for the summit.

The inaugural session gave away to thought provoking panel discussions on areas such as Food Security and International Approaches, and Trends and Challenges faced in Food Production Systems.