March 19, 2024 TnH Global

This is India’s decade as global destination for investments and travel: VFS Global founder

India has a vibrant and diverse economy, a large young population and a rich cultural heritage which make 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 India is 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 told PTI in a recent interview.

Known for creating a new industry of visa and passport outsourcing, VFS Global in just 22 years of its inception operates in 149 countries through 3,353 application centers. So far it has processed 278 million applications and 130 million biometrics enrolments.

Today VFS Global is the trusted partner of 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.

“VFS Global is a truly Indian success story that has gone global. I mean truly global. I conceptualised and launched VFS Global in India, one of the first made-in-India unicorns to become a global leader in its field,” Karkaria said.

“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,” he said in response to a question.

In the US recently for meetings, Karkaria, said there is a lot of excitement and interest by global CEOs in India.

Karkaria previously served as CEO of Kuoni Travel Management Ltd, the 118-year-old Switzerland-headquartered former travel services provider.

“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 said.

“The government has also introduced several reforms to improve the ease of doing business, and the ease of living which are very important. Two basic requirements. But it’s very important for people who want to invest and live in India. This is attracting more investors,” he asserted.

Days after 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 meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions are a major growth driver for the travel sector and economy in India.

India today offers many options across the economic spectrum for travellers with the investments that India has made in its infrastructure and in terms of connectivity around the world.

Super optimistic about India’s future, he said: “I am committed to Prime Minister Modi’s Viksit (developed) Bharat’s vision, which is the government’s action plan to transform the country into a developed nation by 2047.”