Nations must share technology to fight poverty: Anand Sharma

Dato' Mustapa Bin Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Malasia, Anand Sharma, Chairman, the Partnership Summit 2010 and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Venu Srinivasan, President, CII at The Partnership Summit 2010. Photo: V. Ganesan

Countries with resources and technology should share them with the deprived nations, especially when they could fight pandemics and poverty, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma here said at the Partnership Summit 2010, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here on Saturday.

Mr. Sharma said globalisation had brought a host of challenges with a new wave of opportunities. Economic wealth was essential to create a developed world, but wealth should be redistributed so that none became the victim of the changing world.

The recent economic crisis was a painful reminder that the new crises required global responses. But it also showed that the effects were not uniform. Economic regions were becoming more important than national boundaries and it was India’s constant endeavour to bring closer more regions of the world. With the world moving towards a multi-polar regime, India believed in larger economic cooperation among the Asian countries and the countries of the South, including Asia, Africa and Latin America, he said.

The Minister expressed the hope that the next Doha round of talks would lead to a fair and equitable multilateral regime, which would help to meet the aspirations of the poor and the disadvantaged. But the issues that cropped up during the climate change talks should not slow down the Doha round.

Responding to questions later, Mr. Sharma said that despite the slowdown, India remained an attractive destination for investment. The economy was expected to grow significantly in the last quarter and the Foreign Trade Policy helped exports turn positive. The core sector grew by 6 per cent in December, from 0.7 per cent last December. Industrial production also registered a strong growth.

Mr. Sharma, who was present at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the CII and the Malaysia India Business Council, said the talks with Japan and the European Union were in advanced stage.

A Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Malaysia would be signed soon and the Indo-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement expanded to cover services.

Wealth should be redistributed so that none becomes victim of changing world

Despite the economic slowdown, India remained an attractive destination for investment