Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the government is initiating measures to attract more investment as the economy tries to return to a 8 per cent growth trajectory in the Twelfth Five Year Plan period.
We are initiating measures to spur investment and to make India more attractive to investors both at home and abroad. We have taken steps to fast track major infrastructure projects, the Prime Minister said,adding that strong measures have also been taken for fiscal consolidation.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 46th Annual General Meeting of the Asian Development Bank,Singh said: In 2013 the IMF expects advanced developed economies to grow at only 1.2 per cent while developing Asia is expected to grow more than five times faster at 7.1 per cent.
Impacted by the recession in advanced economies as well as issues of policy uncertainty,high inflation and interest rates,the Indian economy expanded at a mere 5 per cent in 2012-13 and is expected to grow at 6.1 to 6.7 per cent in the current fiscal.
To revive growth and woo back wary investors,the government over the past six months has unveiled a number of reforms including further liberalisation of the foreign direct investment norms and measures to rein in the fiscal deficit. But the Prime Minister made it clear that high growth can not be an end in itself and it must be inclusive in nature.
High economic growth cannot be an end in itself… The benefits of rapid growth must necessarily lead to a betterment in the lives of the common people, he said,underlining the need for policies and instruments that focus on skill development as a means to empower people.
Terming skill development as the most potent instrument for this,he said,Creation of new productive job opportunities for the growing labour force is the most powerful means of empowering the people.
Pointing out the limitation if agriculture in absorbing labour,the Prime Minister called for creation of high productivity jobs in other sectors that would help broaden the countrys labour market.
Adequate investments in sectors such as health,primary and higher education,skill development,as well as industrial sectors that can provide gainful employment,are very crucial,he said,along with providing access to capital to infrastructure sector.
Singh suggested the Manila-headquartered multilateral agency find innovative ways to channelise global savings for development of infrastructure projects in developing nations since the level of lending the ADB can sustain is projected to come down.
…expanding infrastructure financing and investment through the intermediation of the ADB could help lower the cost of financing long-term infrastructure projects. I hope the ADB can consider moving in this direction and propel growth in the region, Singh added.
