President to inaugurate 3rd Global Exhibition on Services

President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate Global Exhibition on Services (GES) tomorrow which will highlight India's potential to boost its services exports across sectors.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will also address the inaugural session to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The third edition of the GES comes in the backdrop of increased focus on services trade and India's submission to the World Trade Organisation on trade facilitation in services.
India's services exports increased from USD 52 billion in 2005 to USD 155 billion in 2015, with a share of 3.3 per cent in global services exports. In the first 11 months of 2016-17, services exports stood at USD 146.5 billion, growing at 3 per cent.

The four-day event, to be held from 17-20 April at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, will see participation from over 70 countries and focus on 20 services sectors including information technology, tourism and hospitality, logistics, education and financial services, among others.
The exhibition is being organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, together with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Services Export Promotion Council.

"GES 2017 brings together 550 exhibitors from 70 plus countries. More than 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the exhibition. The exhibition will see over 5,000 business meetings and deliberations at more than 30 seminars," CII said.

The Indian Space Research Organisation, which recently won laurels for placing 104 satellites on a single launch, will also showcase its offerings regarding application of space technology for implementing and monitoring of public programmes on real time basis at the GES.
Besides, the Ministry of Tourism is hosting the Incredible India Haat - a cuisine, culture and handicrafts show at the GES.
India's services trade witnessed a surplus of USD 59 billion in April-February 2016-17 with imports rising 12.1 per cent to USD 87 billion. IT and software services contribute over 48 per cent of the country's overall services exports.