— PHOTO: K. GOPINATHAN

STRIVING FOR EQUITY: (from left) CII President R. Seshasayee, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath, President of the Portuguese Republic Anibal Antonio Cavaco Silva and Karnataka Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy at the inauguration of the `Partnership Summit 2007' in Bangalore on Wednesday.

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BANGALORE: With the right approaches, governments and businesses can demonstrate to the rest of the society the benefits of a more integrated world economy, the President of Portugal, Anibal Antonio Cavaco Silva, said here on Wednesday.

At the inaugural session of the Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit 2007 here, he said globalisation had brought in positive things but raised issues that, if not dealt with properly, could undermine "this extraordinary movement.'' The benefits had to be more equitable, he said. Not everyone had benefited equally yet from globalisation.

On the positive side, the per capita income in developing countries increased by a yearly average of 2.1 per cent between 1980 and 2006 and was predicted to increase faster by 3.1 per cent till 2030. Though this was mostly due to the growth of China and India, the World Bank expects that by 2030, the ranks of people living in dire poverty (earning less than one dollar a day) would be reduced by half to 550 million from the current 1.1 billion. As a success story of international economic integration, Mr Silva referred to the European Union of 27 member countries, 550 million people and the largest world economy. Though it had just 7 per cent of the world's population, the EU accounted for one fifth of global exports and imports and was a major trading partner of all regions of the world, he said.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath said globalisation could be given a new meaning as India was trying to by reaching its benefits to all sections of the society. "Growing the economy is an enormous challenge for us because 60 per cent of our population are young... 400 million persons aged 35 or below and with both potential and expectations. It is imperative that they, along with all sections and all regions of the country, are part of economic growth if we are to sustain a 10 per cent growth rate in the coming years. We want equal growth in the agricultural sector, another major challenge,'' he remarked. "The partnerships forged here will not be a one-way street, India's imports are growing at 35 per cent annually and the overseas delegations can go back with enormous opportunities,'' Mr. Kamal Nath said.

Karnataka Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy said the infrastructure needs of Bangalore and the rest of the State were being given more priority. "We anticipate the State's GDP to grow by 9 per cent next year and the industrial sector to grow by 12 per cent. Of course, infrastructure needs have to be addressed and they are. The new airport, other smaller airports, highways, tech parks, boost for both information technology and biotechnology and opportunities for investments in cities other than Bangalore are part of the industrial policy announced by our Government,'' Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

The three-day Summit concludes on January 19.

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