Krishan Kant opens Partnership Summit

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JAN. 9. The Seventh Partnership Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) got underway here on Tuesday with speakers focussing on the need for old economy and new economy to co-exist and complement each other in the changing scenario.

A host of political leaders, heads of business houses and professionals are gathered to discuss the relevance of the old and the new economies, and their influences on each other- against the backdrop of the euphoria generated over the new economy and the adverse development in terms of the beating the latter has taken in 2000 in market valuations across the world.

While the Vice-President, Mr.Krishan Kant, and the Chief Minister, Mr.N.Chandrababu Naidu, spoke in the inaugural session, others such as Mr.Shimon Peres,Former Prime Minister of Israel, which has the second largest start-up companies in the world, and Mr.Jim Mcdermott, Co-Chairman of the Congressional Causcus on India, and Indian Americans are among those here to participate in the summit.

Over the next two days, the list of speakers include Mr.Suapachai Panitchpakdi, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, and Director- General Designate of World Trade Organisation, Mr. Mike Moore, Director-General of WTO, and a large number of Chief Executives from the old and the new economies.

In keeping with the theme of the summit ``New Economy: Old Economy- Moving Ahead Together,'' Mr.Krishan Kant, who inaugurated the event, said the year 2000 was a watershed in the sense that both new and old economies learnt crucial and hard lessons. Experience had proven that both were inherently complementary.

Both needed each other for their own good, to complement, support, reform and reinforce each other. At the same time, he pointed out that though the new economy may not be in the pink of health, it was not receding either. Importantly, he said the confidence in the power of the new-economy had not diminished significantly, while the old economy was suddenly looking more attractive.

Mr.Chandrababu Naidu, on the other hand, used the occasion to reiterate his commitment to carry on with the second generation of economic reforms. He agreed to the CII's request to allocate about 1,000 acres for setting up of a Green Business Park, which will house companies with environment-friendly technologies.

The State wanted to adopt a pro-active approach to investments and reforms. Apart from the investments and technology, he also wanted the corporates to bring the best practices from everywhere in the world to Andhra Pradesh.

Mr.Krishan Kant also unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone for the Green Business Centre-a centre of excellence for research in environment-friendly technologies and social audit among others.

The State Government has allocated five acres for the Centre at Madhapur, where the HITEC City is located.

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