Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed India‘s “entrepreneurship spirit” and said this is the “best time to invest” in the country as Indians can give “new energy” to its global partners. 

Addressing the annual World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Davos Agenda, the Prime Minister said India has gifted the world a “bouquet of hope”. 

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“India is celebrating its 75th year of Independence and also the administration of 156 crore vaccine doses in the country. India has gifted the world a bouquet of hope,” PM Modi said. 

He said that Indians have an “unwavering trust in our democracy” and the “technology to empower the 21st century with the temperament and talent of Indians”. 

“This is the best time to invest in India. The entrepreneurship spirit that Indians have, the ability to adopt new technology, can give new energy to each of our global partners.”

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PM Modi said that India is focused on reforms in the right way, moving away from the earlier ‘license raj’ to promote ease of doing business and minimising government involvement in businesses. 

He also underscored India’s shift towards digital payment methods. “Today India has the world’s largest, safe and successful digital payments platform. In the last month alone, 4.4 billion transactions have taken place in India through Unified Payments Interface (UPI),” PM Modi said. 

The 71-year-old said that India’s policies and decision making are not just based on present needs, but also keeping into account the needs of the next 25 years. “India’s growth period of next 25 years will be green and clean, and also sustainable and reliable,” he added. 

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He also hailed the startup culture in the country, saying the number of registered startups in the country has skyrocketed from just a few hundred in 2014 to over 60,000 now, adding over 10,000 of them were registered in the last six months.

He also emphasised on sustainable development, saying, “We have to accept that our lifestyle is also a big challenge for the climate. ‘Throw away’ culture and consumerism have made the climate challenge more serious. It is important for Mission ‘LIFE’ to become a global mass movement.”

The WEF’s annual meeting was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 and has been deferred till at least