Union Minister Shri Anurag Thakur today attended the valedictory session of Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit 2022. Speaking to the audience Shri Thakur said it during the three day Summit, over 90 renowned speakers have through various workshops enlightened those present and he congratulates the Minister of Ayush and the Ministry officials for the successful organisation of this summit.

Speaking on the immense potential for investment and innovation in AYUSH the Minister said what was $3 billion trade in 2014 has increased by more than six times to over $18 billion dollar today. This is indicative of the tremendous growth potential in this field. A phenomenal annual growth rate of 75% makes this an attractive sector. The Minister expressed hope that the country will soon see many startups and businesses investing in this sector.

The Minister further added that India has done well during the COVID pandemic and in the post COVID world India is among the fastest growing major economies and AYUSH can aspire to be a leading sector in this growth. For this Shri Thakur said we must have the right start up ecosystem, and to that end we must have the right culture for innovation, incubation and more initiatives in this sector. He further remarked that while the world was fighting COVID pandemic, 47 Indian startups have become Unicorns in the last two years.

To encourage competition, Shri Anurag Thakur said we need better packaging of our product and this should be complemented with aggressive marketing and branding. AYUSH is going to launch an e-Marketplace soon and like GeM portal, this e-Marketplace is also going to conduct transactions worth crores in the future, he further added.

Calling for a strengthening of AYUSH sector the Minister said that Ayurveda, homeopathy and Yoga are constituents of India's soft power and to become a Vishwaguru, India must project its strength and to do that we must nourish the AYUSH sector.

The Minister credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for striving to host first WHO Global Center for Traditional Medicine in India and said it was our responsibility to now take Indian products to the world.

The Minister exhorted that the three-day summit must send out a message of 'Heal in India' to the world. The Ministries of the Government must work together to plan, execute and market the idea of making India a hub of healing, he elaborated.

The three day Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation summit was inaugurated on 20^th April, 2022 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The three-day summit witnessed 5 plenary sessions, 8 roundtables, 6 workshops, and 2 symposiums, with the presence of around 90 eminent speakers and 100 exhibitors. The Summit aimed to help uncover investment potential, and give a fillip to innovation, research & development, start-up ecosystem, and the wellness industry and help bring together industry leaders, academicians and scholars together and act as a platform for future collaborations.

Saurabh Singh