Manmohan Singh on Asian region's role in stabilizing global recovery - Asian century - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Asserting that the 21st century is rightly spoken of as the Asian century, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the economic growth in Asia in the last decade has positioned the region as the growth engine of the world, and added that Asian region is thus expected to play a very crucial role in driving and stabilizing global recovery process. "At a time when industrialised countries' growth has greatly slowed down, GDP of Asian countries is estimated to grow by 6.9 percent in 2012 and 7.3 percent in 2013 The Asian region is thus expected to play a very crucial role in driving and stabilizing global recovery process," said Dr. Singh in his speech at the conference on 'Economic Growth in Asia and Changes of Corporate Environment' at the Vigyan Bhavan here. "This is part of a longer term recovery of the position Asia had two hundred and fifty years ago. If everything goes right, Asia 's share in the world economy could be greater than half by the year 2050, as against the present level of about 27 percent. The dramatic modernization of the Asian economies is acknowledged as one of the most important developments in the economic history of the world," he added. The Prime Minister said Asia's corporate sector deserves a great deal of the credit for this massive transformation of Asia . "It faces many challenges in the years ahead. We need modern, efficient and innovative companies, capable of competing with the best in the world and living up to the highest standards of corporate governance," said Dr. Singh. "As Asian governments, we in the government have the responsibility to ensure that corporate laws match up to international standards, that the regulation of our stock exchanges comes up to the expectations of global investors and that our banking and financial sectors are exemplars of both efficiency and stability," he added. Dr. Singh emphasized that there is a need to build a climate that attracts investment and encourages and rewards innovation, and establish fair and effective regulatory institutions and also legal processes. "Above all, we have the responsibility to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in processes of governance," he added. Dr. Singh said Asian countries are not all the same, and added that there is a wide range of diversity among our countries in culture, history, geography, legal systems and institutions. "But we do share a common humanity and destiny and I do believe we can learn greatly from each other even as we do things differently in many ways. I believe that we have much to learn from each other in terms of the institutions and methods that we have developed to address the formidable social and economic concerns of our respective societies and of our people," he added. The Prime Minister pointed out that the last century, which has left behind a bitter legacy of the consequences of strife and conflict, has also taught about the immense benefits that could be gained from peace and from cooperation between countries. " India was fortunate to have the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi who gave us the concept of Satyagraha to overcome formidable political opponents in pursuit of our Independence . His prescription of a just society based on commitment to truth and his concept of trusteeship of the nation's wealth have guided us as India's democracy, economy and society have evolved over the years," said Dr. Singh. "Morality as an intrinsic part of enterprise has been the basis of our development efforts and also our relations with the rest of the world," he added. Dr. Singh said India 's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was the architect of modern India , who spoke of the factories and dams as the new temples of secular India . Nehru, he said, " had a clear vision of the need to transform a rural and agricultural economy to a rapidly expanding modern economy, with an impressive manufacturing base. Since then we have seen new areas of transformation in modern services and a growing urban profile of our country," he added. Emphasizing that as efforts are made the world over to redesign and reengineer business corporations to make them compatible with the aspirations of modern democratic societies, Dr. Singh said: " India can benefit from looking to its own traditions in several important respects. As I have said earlier, the concept of trusteeship of resources and wealth for the common citizen was articulated by Mahatma Gandhi based on traditional Indian thought." "Similarly, the Indian philosophy of life which views man as a part of nature and one of the many living creatures, puts us in the mainstream of current thinking about concerns of environment and ecology," he added. The Prime Minister further said corporate governance including responsible conduct towards all the stakeholders, within the corporation as well as outside is also seen as good economics besides desired moral behaviour. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is therefore increasingly being seen as a fundamental dimension of the social contract between human beings and therefore sought to be subject to public disclosure and scrutiny. The contours and footprint of CSR are widely debated but there is today a growing consensus that it is intrinsically linked with the concept of sustainable development," said Dr. Singh. "A seamless structure is thus emerging that combines elements such as best practices in business, sustainable and equitable development strategies, as also redistribution of incomes and proper regulation of markets," he added.

Manmohan Singh on Asian region's role in driving, stabilizing global recovery