Future of business will definitely be Asia: Kalam

Observing that Association of South East Asian Nations provided a huge opportunity for trade, India on Monday offered its expertise in information and communication technologies to set up a sound e-business infrastructure in the region for information sharing, joint ventures and free trade.

Addressing the Philippines National Assembly (Parliament), President A P J Abdul Kalam outlined a eight point road map to boost Indo-Philippines trade from the existing $577 million to $2 billion dollars in the next three years.

The President also called for developing and marketing products in the international market and facilitate setting up of small and medium scale enterprises in the Philippines for production and marketing of farm and agricultural implements.

"The future of business will definitely be Asia. Increasingly, the western countries and other leading business groups in the west are focusing on Asian countries. With the western markets getting saturated, this region (Asean) provides huge opportunities for business to expand their market share," Kalam said.

The countries of Asean can compete and get their market share if there is a robust e-business framework in place, which can lead to information sharing, education programmes and knowledge communication among the countries of the region.

It can also result in technological and business development and setting up of free trade zones, he said.

Kalam said India with its core competence in the field of information, communication and space technology and a large human capital can contribute to the Asean e-business network.

Kalam, who wrapped up his three-day official visit to the Philippines, outlined his road map for Indo-Philippines cooperation, which envisaged among other things joint ventures in Philippines through Indian pharmaceutical industries to help the country have access to quality and affordable medicines.

It also includes assistance in dairy development, helping the country search for alternative energy sources like Jatropha and Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas in two villages of the Philippines.