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At the inaugural session of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit 2024, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that Global South is not responsible for global environmental damage but has been caused by the developed countries who enjoyed the benefit of low cost energy. Trade Ministers from the Italian Republic, State of Israel, Bhutan, Bahrain, Algeria, Nepal, Senegal, South Africa, Myanmar, Qatar and Secretary of State for Ministry of Commerce of Kingdom of Cambodia were the partner countries at the Summit. 

Goyal highlighted that each of the partner countries have shared responsibilities towards environment and sustainability, but countries present at the summit are not responsible for the damage to the environment. Therefore, the responsibilities towards shared supply chains and sustainability will have to be met through common but differentiated responsibility. He added that while all have to work together, everybody needs to be given responsibility based on their contribution to the environmental problem.

Further, Minister said that India offers a trusted hand of friendship and partnership to countries of Global South. Goyal said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation will have an impact on the future of employment and the skills required to adapt to the changing job profiles. He said that technology will transform lives and change the nature of livelihoods, but tradition and culture will also need to be maintained equally. He noted that therefore, it needs to be a mix of tradition and legacy on one hand and technology on the other.