Johannesburg - Growth in the manufacturing base will enable the Brics countries to achieve their desired economic growth and job creation, Indian Minister of Commerce Anand Sharma said on Wednesday.
“Technologies alone will determine the strengths of the countries and their growth, and we are very clear that manufacturing alone will be able to create the jobs that we need. Otherwise the social cost will be unbearable,” Sharma told The New Age breakfast held at the Brics summit in Durban.
He said conventional wisdom was that agriculture would create jobs and food security, and then the economy had to grow the manufacturing and services sector to be sustainable.
“But the services sector will not grow beyond the point, but on the strength of the manufacturing. That in my country is a priority today,” he said.
To boost manufacturing, India would develop industrial townships through its national industrial policy.
This would enable India to raise the share of its manufacturing in its GDP from 16 percent to 26 percent in one decade, and create 100 million skilled jobs.
Sharma was representing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was absent at the breakfast attended by President Jacob Zuma, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and China's President Xi Jinping.
He said infrastructure investment was another key area of growth and job creation.
Brics countries had proposed a total investment of US3 trillion in the coming year on infrastructure, Sharma said.
“Our countries have large young populations, and therefore development is a priority and an imperative for all of us. The strength lies in the sharing of technologies, ensuring free flow of investment and also capacity building and skills training.”
Sharma said the coming together of Brics countries was important as the global economy was experiencing a paradigm shift.
“A new order is clearly emerging, both politically and economically, reflecting the realities of the twenty-first century world.”
He said the sharing of experiences among Brics countries would make a difference, not only in their societies, but also have a defining influence in the global order of this century.
Sharma urged the Brics members to dismantle the barriers of protectionism which impeded growth and investment. - Sapa