“In this new global economic architecture, the centre of economic activity has shifted from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, making Asia an important engine of the global economy,” remarked Kamal Nath, India’s Minister of Road Transport 
and Highways. “In the next few years, Asia will be the engine of global growth.”

The financial crisis has speeded up the long-term structural change occurring in the world, shifting the centre of gravity of the global economy eastwards, declared Dr Omar bin Sulaiman, governor, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and vice-chairman, UAE Central Bank.
Addressing the first seminar of the DIFC in India, Sulaiman made a strong plea for increased co-operation between the two countries. His sentiments were echoed by Kamal Nath, India’s Minister of Road Transport 
and Highways.

“The challenge before us in these interesting times is to create even greater economic engagement between India and the UAE,” said Nath. In a hard-hitting speech, Nath flayed the west for dictating to emerging nations in the past on how to manage their financial systems. “At the World Economic Forum meets in the past we were told to change our financial regulatory systems,” said Nath. “But we did not face a financial crisis. We had not heard of sub-primes and other products. Our model of growth was demand-driven.”

Noting that there was tremendous potential for doing business with India, Sulaiman admitted that not organising an event in India in the five years since the DIFC was established was
 itself a shortcoming.

“We are meeting here today at a most important inflection point in history,” he said. “The world economy appears to have passed through the worst of the credit and financial crisis. Both globally and regionally there are numerous issues still to be navigated – from how to exit various stimulus programmes to finding funding in the face of lower government revenues.”

Sulaiman pointed out that the outlook was clearly positive and nowhere more so than in Asia and the Middle East. “The Indian sub-continent in particular and the GCC have among the highest growth rates in the world,” he said. The IMF has forecast a 6.4 per cent growth rate for India in fiscal 2010 and 5.2 per cent for the GCC.

“These are higher than world growth, projected at 3.1 per cent and far above the weak growth expected in leading developed economies,” he said. “There are a variety of reasons for the strong growth across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region – referred to collectively as MENASA – but one of the most fundamental, and most important to mention in the context of this meeting is a long-term
 structural change.”

Citing the IMF, Sulaiman noted that by 2013 the GDP of emerging and developing economies, many of them in Asia, will account for 50.6 per cent of global GDP, overtaking advanced countries for the first time since the 19th century.

“What’s more, since 2000, emerging market economies have been the main drivers of global economic growth, accounting for more than 60 per cent of global economic and trade growth.”

He pointed out that India was at the heart of this shift, with Indian conglomerates taking major stakes in companies around the world. “Indian cities such as this great city of Mumbai and Bangalore and Chennai are playing a side-by-side role with other global centres of innovation in IT and creative, business and professional services,” he remarked.

“Our two nations, and the wider region in which we are both located, are ideally positioned to benefit from this new economic geography,” elaborated Sulaiman. “Our challenge is to understand the scope and implications of this change and respond in ways that maximise our collective interests.”

Referring to the “extremely complementary nature of our two markets,” the DIFC governor said it was time “to direct this investment inward, toward the development of our two economies,” he said.

“Indian assets, characterised as an asset class in itself, can serve GCC investors’ appetites for alternative and private equity instruments,” he added.

Indian minister Nath referred to the road-building opportunities in the country, pointing out international investors could plough in at least 50 per cent of the $80 billion needed over the next five years