Emphasising that India "must carry on" its economic reforms, leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul said on Friday that the impoverished masses cannot be liberated until the economy itself is fully freed.
"India can gain tremendously from access to larger markets and can become a major player in world economy. But in order to achieve that, it must carry on its economic reforms," Lord Paul said in New Delhi at a seminar on 'Globalisation and its Effects on the Indian Economy'.
"The impoverished multitude cannot be liberated until the economy itself is fully liberated," Britain's business ambassador said, adding globalisation is an "opportunity" for India as it has a large human asset base.
India "stands at crossroads and has the opportunity to take unprecedented advantage of all the benefits available from globalisation," the co-chairman of India-UK Roundtable said.
On India's efforts on economic growth, he said if India had not started the reforms in early 1990s, it would have been consigned to the lower ranks of the global economies.
However, India must foster competition within its business sector by encouraging entrepreneurial activities and ensure transparency of economic interaction, he added.
Attacking the US and European Union for continuing with agricultural and textile subsidies and tariffs, Lord Paul said they were denying many countries the chance to have equitable trade.
Holding that western nations have a responsibility to the developing world to fully implement free trade regimes, he said, "by maintaining agricultural and textile subsidies and tariffs, the US and EU are denying many countries the chance to maintain balanced trade accounts."
"Developed countries have acknowledged time and again, from the Uruguay and Doha Rounds of WTO trade negotiations to the UN Millennium Goals, that the protectionism of wealthy countries is unjustified," he said.
Maintaining that the world has moved from "superpowers to supermarkets", Lord Paul said, "This new form of globalisation is characterised by the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide and it is a phenomenon that is here to stay."
The House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs recently concluded that while globalisation may impose some costs, its benefits are far greater, Lord Paul said.
"Managed responsibly, it (globalisation) does not increase the divide between rich and poor. In fact, the only way that poverty will truly be eradicated if globalisation is harnessed correctly today," he said.
About women entrepreneurs in India, Lord Paul said they, especially those working in the field of information technology, as well as foreign-educated students who have returned home, will lead the country to become an important player in the global market.
Pursuing a career in IT gives Indian women the freedom and a remarkable opportunity to be part of the national workforce even while working out of their homes, he said.
It will be the women who would lead the way forward if the country continues its reforms, the Caparo group chairman said.
Chances of women doing well in IT - a field, which requires a lot of creativity and intelligence - are excellent as "studies showed that women are more intelligent and creative than men," he said.
