Five-day Davos meet concludes on a gloomy note

Global business and political leaders today left the Alpine Swiss resort on a gloomy note after five days of brainstorming, with a warning that protectionist efforts could make the situation worse.

DAVOS: Global business and political leaders today left the Alpine Swiss resort on a gloomy note after five days of brainstorming, with a warning that protectionist efforts could make the situation worse, as 18 countries including India decided against trade barriers.

At the five-day meeting of corporate and political leaders at Davos, the emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies articulated the worries of the developing nations and marked their strong presence telling the Americans and others in the west how their business models turned into bubbles, which were to burst anyway.

"History is witness that whenever countries try to prop up protectionism, it intensifies depression," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said.

Trade ministers of key WTO members who met here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum conclave also resolved to give priority to efforts to reach a deal under the much-delayed Doha Round and guard against protectionism.

The issue of the financial fraud at Satyam Computer came up for major discussion at the WEF.

Assuring the global audience that India's regulatory systems are strong, the country's government and corporate leaders described the multi-crore Satyam scandal as a one-off incident and said bigger frauds have happened in other countries.
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Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that while Satyam has been a negative development, the Indian authorities have taken corrective action.

Indian leaders said the country cannot be judged just by the Satyam episode.
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