PM seeks Gulf investment in infrastructure

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked rich Gulf nations to invest their surplus funds in India’s infrastructure sector, saying that would help the subcontinent nation soon return to 9% growth levels.“The present international economic and financial situation has clouded some of the prospects of growth in near term.I am,however,confident that the long term outlook for our economy remains strong and robust,” he said addressing the Indian community.The statement by the Prime Minister at the fag end of his three-day maiden visit to the energy-rich Gulf region came on a day when USbased Goldman Sachs cut Indian economy’s growth projection to 6.7%in 2008-09 from the earlier 7.5%. Asia’s third-largest economy sought help from the Gulf region, particularly gas-rich Qatar where he arrived on Sunday,to boost investments—key to economic growth.The current global financial crisis presents a rare window of opportunity for India and Qatar. The investment needs of a large emerging economy like India and the large financial surpluses of an energy rich economy like that of Qatar can be married together to create a win-win situation,Singh said. “Our inherent strengths, the large size of our markets,the diversified industrial base we possess, and the strong and dynamic private sector will eventually allow us to return to a 9% growth trajectory,”Singh said.Reserve Bank of India last month said the $1.2 trillion economy may grow at 7.5% this fiscal as opposed to 9 percent in 2007-08.The rate in 2008-09 would be the weakest since 2005. Singh had made a similar plea with Oman, his first stop on the three-day,two-nation visit.The Prime Minister said India needed $500 billion in infrastructure investments in the next five years.Indian companies,he said,were looking to invest in Qatar in sectors like energy, construction, finance and information technology.
“The Indian economy rests on strong fundamentals.Over the last four years we have averaged 9% GDP growth per year. Our development efforts have been positively impacting our agriculture sector which has registered a growth of over 4% this year,” Singh said.