The Hindu Business Line : Economic pact can help India integrate with Asean: Kamal Nath

The Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath has envisioned the possible emergence of "a formidable triangle" consisting of India, China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) by 2015.

Speaking on Wednesday at an Asia Pacific business summit in Singapore, called Connecting India, Mr Kamal Nath said that the triangle would indeed be "a pulsating economic hub. The centre of commercial activity on the global stage would have shifted from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean by 2015."

For now, the financial sector in Singapore, a key Asean member, "will be much more proactive about India in the coming months. Levels of financial intermediation will increase dramatically; I believe that Mumbai, along with Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, will eventually become the financial nerve centres of the world - to rival the likes of London, New York, and Tokyo."

Addressing entrepreneurs at the inaugural session of the two-day summit, Mr Kamal Nath called for efforts to "constantly realign and balance the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement) to take India-Singapore ties to the next level."

The summit is being organised by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI).

Model of partnership

It has acquired much political resonance in the latest context of official efforts to expand the framework of the bilateral economic pact signed last June.

The Hindu and the Hindu Business Line are the international media partners for the summit; PricewaterhouseCoopers is the SICCI's knowledge partner. "India has both business and friendship with Singapore," said the Minister, adding that the economic pact accorded well with the dictum that "friendship founded on business is better than business founded on friendship."

He added: "The CECA is a model of partnership and could act as a building block for India's comprehensive integration with the Asean."

Convertibility

Answering questions later, Mr Kamal Nath said that the Centre was now working on a roadmap for movement towards full convertibility on the currency front.

He assured the international investors that they could "see some movement on this very soon."

The conference was inaugurated by Singapore's Education Minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

The SICCI Chairman, Mr M. Rajaram, emphasised the importance of the summit.

Plenary sessions were held on the Indian economy and the Singapore connection on the growing India-China engagement.

Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, said that the Singapore leaders had, for a long time now, caught on "instinctively" to the political theme about the relevance of India and China to the Asian and global economies in the 21st century.