India has the intellectual capacity, strength and ability to fuel the next industrial revolution, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed said here on Saturday. He also called for partnership among Asian countries to take on global challenges.
Mr. Nasheed was delivering the keynote address at the 16th edition of the Partnership Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
He said India could provide the lead in use of renewable energy to combat climate change. “We did not advance out of the Stone Age because we ran out of stones,” he quipped. The world could not assume that there was still a future with fossil fuels.
Good governance
Democracy and good governance were essential for development and this prompted the Maldivian government to move towards a liberal economic regime.
“We believe in business over bureaucracy.” The government’s rightful place in the globalised world was in regulation, environment protection and provision of social security nets, he said.
Reading out the Malaysian Prime Minister’s address to the summit, International Trade and Industry Minister of that country Mustapa bin Mohamed said greater global economic integration was unavoidable but it was fraught with dangers to the disadvantaged.
“A value-free process”
Globalisation was a value-free process and it made sense only if it was used to alleviate poverty and improve human lives.
“Globalisation is about change and the ability to respond to change. Countries differ in this regard and there should be flexibility in how we assess their ability to promote economic integration across borders,” he said.
While conceding that the World Trade Organisation, with all its imperfections, would continue to provide the framework for nations to discuss and negotiate, he called for a rules-based system, where wealthy nations would not overpower developing nations and where rules facilitated growth and greater economic integration.
Shift in economic power
Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the economic and political power in the world was shifting and the G-20 had to respond to challenges rather than the G-8.
India wanted a multilateral regime that was fair, equitable and met the needs of the poorest people and would push for it in the next instalment of Doha Round talks, he said.
Stalin’s call
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said the State was among the top three fastest growing ones in the country and invited industries to invest in the State.
CII president Venu Srinivasan said the shifting of the economic centre of gravity to Asia would have implications for the entire world in food and energy security.
