India well placed to anchor Asia's value chains: FECC

Future Economic Cooperation Council (FECC) is a geo-economic platform focused on advancing international economic cooperation through dialogue on trade, investment, economic diplomacy and strategic partnerships. GEC East is FECC's flagship regional forum, being held in Singapore on Wednesday and Thursday.

The gathering has brought together policymakers, sovereign investors, business leaders, financial institutions, academics and industry experts to discuss the next phase of economic cooperation across Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Priyam Gandhi-Mody, Executive Director of FECC, spoke to ET's Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury about the event.

1. GEC East is being organised in Singapore. Can you tell us more about it?

GEC East was conceived in response to a fundamental shift in the global economy. We are moving away from an era where economic growth was driven by a handful of established markets towards one in which the Global East is becoming a much larger driver of trade, investment, manufacturing and innovation.


The objective of GEC East is to create a platform where governments, investors, businesses, researchers and strategic institutions can have practical conversations around that transition. This is not designed as another conference where people simply exchange views. Every session is built around identifying opportunities for cooperation, whether in infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, technology, the digital economy, energy or investment.

Singapore was a natural choice because it sits at the intersection of the Indo-Pacific and has long played the role of a trusted connector between governments, capital and business. The discussions over the next two days reflect a larger reality: the future of economic cooperation will increasingly depend on stronger partnerships across Asia and the wider Global East.

2. How can GEC East contribute to bringing investments into India?

Today, investors are looking for trusted partners, resilient supply chains, policy stability and long-term growth opportunities.

India already possesses many of these advantages. It has one of the world's largest domestic markets, an expanding manufacturing base, strong digital public infrastructure and a rapidly growing innovation ecosystem.

Platforms like GEC East help convert those strengths into partnerships. They bring together sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, multinational companies, family offices and policymakers who are actively looking at long-term opportunities across the region.

Equally important, the conversations are no longer limited to attracting capital into individual projects. Increasingly, investors want to participate in entire ecosystems, whether in electronics manufacturing, healthcare innovation, clean energy, digital infrastructure or advanced manufacturing. India is well positioned to become one of the anchors of these regional value chains.

3. What is the specific focus on manufacturing and industrial policy under GEC East and FECC?

Manufacturing is becoming a strategic issue rather than simply an industrial one.

The disruptions of recent years have demonstrated that countries cannot rely on efficiency alone. They also need resilience, trusted production networks and diversified supply chains.

At FECC, we believe the next phase of industrial growth will be built through regional partnerships rather than isolated national strategies. The conversation is no longer about every country producing everything. It is about identifying complementary strengths and building integrated manufacturing ecosystems.

India has made significant progress through initiatives such as Make in India and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, while ASEAN economies have developed deep manufacturing capabilities across sectors including electronics, automotive and precision engineering.

One of our priorities at GEC East is to explore how these strengths can become more integrated, creating regional value chains that are more competitive, resilient and globally relevant.

4. With regard to supply chain resilience, which sectors are likely to be the focus amid the increasing weaponisation of supply chains?

Supply chain resilience has moved well beyond logistics. It is increasingly becoming a question of economic security.

The sectors attracting the greatest attention are those that underpin long-term economic competitiveness. These include semiconductors and electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, critical minerals, clean energy technologies, digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and food security.

The conversation, however, is evolving beyond simply reducing dependence on one geography.

The more important question is how countries build trusted networks that create multiple pathways for production, innovation and investment. That is where India and ASEAN have a particularly significant opportunity. Together, they offer manufacturing capability, skilled talent, expanding consumer markets and strategic connectivity across the Indo-Pacific.

The future will belong to economies that combine openness with resilience, and cooperation with trusted partners will become one of the defining characteristics of that model.