India has a vibrant and diverse economy, a large young population, and a rich cultural heritage — all of that makes it attractive for investors and visitors, according to the CEO of the world’s largest visa outsourcing company.
Zubin Karkaria, Founder and CEO of VFS Global, said in an interview with the Press Trust of India that the country was undergoing a rapid economic and social transformation. “This creates new opportunities for business, trade, tourism, and culture. I truly believe this is India’s decade,” he said.
“In VFS Global, we are very optimistic about the prospects of India as a global destination, as a source, both for inbound tourism and outbound travellers. India has a vibrant and diverse economy, a large young population, and a rich cultural heritage. These factors make India attractive, both for investors and visitors,” he said.
Known for creating a new industry of visa service outsourcing, VFS Global in just 22 years of its inception operates in 149 countries through 3,353 application centres. So far, it has processed 278 million applications and 130 million biometric enrolments.
VFS Global partners 67 governments, including the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance (the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand), and 24 of the 27 Schengen countries (in Europe).
Karkaria said, “VFS Global is a truly Indian success story that has gone global.” He described the company as “one of the first made-in-India unicorns to become a global leader in its field”.
Earlier, he had served as the CEO of Kuoni Travel Management Ltd, the 118-year-old Switzerland-headquartered travel services provider.
We remain committed to supporting India’s growth story by providing seamless and tech-driven visa services to events, to secure cross-border mobility for people and trade. This is to and from India, thereby contributing to India’s economic growth.
Zubin Karkaria, VFS Global CEO
In the US recently for meetings, Karkaria said that there was a lot of excitement about and interest in India among CEOs of international companies. “India has been a land of opportunities. It’s expected that India will be the fastest-growing major economy in the next three years. I concur with our Prime Minister’s vision and statement when he says that India will soon be the third-largest economy in the world,” he told PTI.
Listing the beneficial economic factors, Karkaria said, “The government [of India] has introduced several reforms to improve the ease of doing business, and the ease of living, which are very important — two basic requirements. [This is] very important for people who want to invest and live in India [and] is attracting more investors.”
Days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Chalo India’ campaign to promote tourism and motivate people to travel to India, the CEO of VFS Global said that meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) were a major growth driver for the travel sector and economy in India.
India today offers many options across the economic spectrum for travellers, with investments made in infrastructure and better connectivity around the world.
Extremely optimistic about India’s future, Karkaria said, “I am committed to Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Viksit (developed) Bharat’ vision, which is the government’s action plan to transform the country into a developed nation by 2047.”