The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh stressed the need to find ways in which trade aids development to ensure that “globalisation works for all”, while addressing a National Seminar on `Making Gloabalisation Work’, in New Delhi on 18 December, 2006. The Prime Minister observed that if the Doha Round was to have a successful outcome, then it must remain true to its original mandate of being a Development Round. “We cannot continue to live in a world of 'butter mountains' and 'rivers of milk', liberally funded by government subsidies, when the poor starve in the villages of the Third World. We all know subsidies distort trade. In the case of the agricultural subsidies offered by developed industrial economies, these not only distort trade but destroy lives”, he added.
The Union Commerce & Industry Minister, Mr. Kamal Nath, Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, Prof. Amartya Sen, Lord Meghnad Desai and other dignitaries participated inthe Seminar, which was organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Following is the text of the Prime Minster’s speech on the occasion:
“I am delighted to be here this morning among friends and a galaxy of eminent economists and thinkers. One of the joys of winter in Delhi is that along with a host of migratory birds we also have friends and scholars from the West visiting us! I truly and sincerely welcome this seasonal surge in intellectual activity in Delhi. The lectures that friends like Amartya and Meghnad give not only educate and illuminate, they often help clarify our own thinking on so many issues.
Today, I am particularly delighted to see another good friend among us. I have known the work of Dr Stiglitz for far longer than