Sunday, May 18, 2003
Sunday, May 18, 2003 |
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
Addressing the members of the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry at its annual meeting here last night, Mr. Somany said the ability of the country to withstand the effects of a weak monsoon this year marked the coming of age of Indian industry and was a recognition that the country was not as dependent on agriculture as the statistics would indicate. This was more significant a development for a State like Kerala where plantation crops and the allied agro-industrial activities would provide subsistence for majority of the citizens. There was a need to further reduce this dependence on one sector he said pointing out that diversification would reduce the uncertainty and cyclical employment structure that emanated from being entirely dependent on farming activities and generate more value and income from the same raw material. He also said that Kerala should leverage the added advantage of being the best venture for multi destination tourism and make this the mainstay of the state's focus for development and investment. On the tourism front Kerala can do better than Bali and Mauritius, he said adding that the state had to think big and plan medium term. Containing the cultural and environmental threats must also be kept in mind, and projections and targets ought to be set accordingly. The Assocham president said Kerala was also heavily dependent on services sector as a source of income, whether be it tourism or remittances from non-resident family members working abroad. Remittances from non-residents have in the past been an importance source of income for residents of the state as indeed four the country's forex earnings. However, the State cannot depend on external resources alone as the dwindling remittance figures in the last couple of years indicated. This has been reinforced further by the recent uncertainty in the Middle East, which has made people wary of depending on this source of income. What needs to be done is to add more value to the existing services provided, and actively looks at means to move up the value-chain. However, more critically one has to look at diversification and self-reliance since the ongoing recession in the developed countries has made them more protectionists, particularly in terms of saving domestic jobs. The Cochin Chamber of Commerce president, N. R. Pai, said tourism promotion in the State should be done in a planned manner that would help sustain the fragile ecosystem and pristine destinations. Though the Government was pro-active, much needed to be done in the IT sector since the traditional sectors like agriculture were facing difficulties. The fall in prices in the major commodities like tea, coffee, rubber, coconut and spices are quite distressing and the only long-term solution for the recovery in these days of globalisation was substantial increase in productivity so that the cost of production could vie with those in the other producing countries.
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