Indian PM against protectionist measures

HANOI: Speaking out against protectionist measures imposed by industrialised nations, prime minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the developing economies should resist such policies in the interest of their own growth.

“Growth in developing countries would be greatly helped if threats of new protectionist measures in industrialised countries are firmly resisted, and existing barriers to trade are reduced. Towards this end, a successful completion of the Doha development round of trade negotiations is important,” he noted in his address to the East Asia summit here that was also attended by the US and Russia.

Mr Singh, who attributed the gradual stabilisation of the world economy to the collective efforts of G-20, however said the recovery continued to be fragile.

The prime minister’s call to the developing world to resist protectionist measures in industrialised nations to allow greater growth comes in the backdrop of serious concerns in the IT industry over the US’ anti-outsourcing tirade.

During his speech at the East Asia summit, Mr Singh welcomed the progress made on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) for East Asia.