: Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh today stressed the need to ensure steady growth of the country's manufacturing sector and called for greater coordination between different ministries at the centre and also the states.
The manufacturing sector needs to grow and it is the most stable part of any country's economy, he said in his address at the maiden 'Deccan Dialogue'-conference on Economic Diplomacy for Development here.
"If the manufacturing sector does not grow and we only depend on the service sector I think we are living in a cloud and need to come on mother earth and ensure that the manufacturing sector grows," the minister added.
Singh also underscored the need to fast-track some of the areas which have been neglected for a certain period of time i.e, technology infusion.
"We need do more where research and development are concerned. We need to do tie-ups. We need to ensure that the tariff, trade and other regimes are so structured that they do not land in conflict," he said.
He further said there was a need to have coordination between the commerce ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the states to achieve sustained economic growth.
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"Our problem has been that while the diplomacy part is being pushed for an advantage by one ministry, there may be another ministry which is looking at the domestic market and trying to impose restrictions. So, we need to have greater coordination between the Trade and Commerce Ministries and the MEA and also the states," he added.
The minister said there is also a need to improve connectivity whether it is by air, sea or land.
He said ease of doing business comes when the systems change.
"Unfortunately, we are still stuck with certain systems which are bending at a very slow rate. They are made of something stronger than iron and it is taking time to bend them. But, believe you me once movement starts to change things they will change," he added.
There is a need to bring ease of doing business to an extent where it becomes easy for anybody who wants to come and invest and make use of our strengths and therefore it becomes contributory to our own economy, he said.
"Ease of doing business I am sure is going to see a much more steeper advantageous position than what we have today," the minister said.
On foreign direct investment (FDI) indicators, Singh said India is doing well despite the sluggishness being witnessed by the world.
"I think we have done pretty well. We are at an all-time high where FDI is concerned. Economy is at bright spot by all indicators of various world institutions," he added.
He said India's greatest advantage is its market and there is a need to exploit it.
"Our economy and our markets have become more attractive. And therefore we need to exploit this advantage of ours in a manner which is beneficial to us," the minister added.
He said there is a need to look at countries which have done well in economic diplomacy.
"Brazil created institutions by which it was able to leverage its technology and market to advantage. Look at China which created itself as a manufacturing hub and allowed everybody else to come and manufacture and today it has enlarged itself economically," Singh added.
The minister said India should leverage the advantage of being a democracy because each state here can actually become a place of excellence.
Earlier, Telangana IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao said the MEA should take up a resource mapping exercise where it can map resources of a state.