'Protectionist measures will deepen crisis'

The present economic crisis would further deepen if countries adopt protectionist measures, warned commerce, industry and textiles minister Anand Sharma here on Thursday.

He said such protectionist tendencies were already visible in the actions of certain governments and they would only prove counter productive.

Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Partnership Summit, which began here on Thursday, the minister said cooperation and unity among the countries of all hues would make the world interconnected in true sense.

While the bipolar world proved unsustainable, multi-polarity in which all the countries had a role to play would guide the global change, he said.

Referring to the event theme of innovation, the minister said frugal innovation and cost-effective production were now to come from the emerging economies and countries needed to partner in this important area.

The government has proposed to establish seven manufacturing investment regions around the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, which is by far the largest infrastructure project in the world embracing 43 per cent of the country's population. It is from these hubs that innovation had to come, he said.

Talking on the regional economic relations, he said there had been notable progress in bringing unity and cohesion in South Asia and it had to be sustained in future.