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| Sunday, 31 October 2004 |
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FM on taking economic benefits to villages Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar emphasized the importance of taking the fruits of economic progress to the villages where the majority of the masses live. He was speaking at the Technology Senate 2004 organised by Indian Express and John Keells Holdings held in Colombo on Thursday. More than 200 Indian businessmen participated at the event, where Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was the chief guest. Minister delivering the keynote address further said: that in recent elections in both India and Sri Lanka the rural masses have sent an emphatic message to their political leaders: not to forget the basic needs of the people in the quest for "the dazzling fruits of globalization". The Minister added that all political parties will have to heed this message and listen to the voice of the people, while the private sector will have to do so too. Minister Kadirgamar highlighted the importance of taking the fruits of economic progress to the villages where the majority of the masses live. Integrating the village in the globalization process, he said, "is the responsibility of not only the government, but the IT industry, its experts and its corporate executives". Minister Kadirgamar added that finding the ways and means of doing so was the challenge before the IT practitioners of South Asia. The Minister further said this would require social consciousness and responsibility, but most of all the spirit of innovation which will spur the development of appropriate IT technologies that are easily accessible, affordable and meaningful for the rural masses, so that they could also become stakeholders and partners in progress in the new IT era". The Minister also said "the tradition of invention and entrepreneurship is by no means foreign to our region. We must look to the day, which I am sure will not be far off, when South Asia, led by the IT wizards of India, will make the IT revolution a truly global phenomenon by taking it to every city, every village and every person in all our countries". The Foreign Minister thanked the Indian Express for having organized the event, John Keells Holdings, which was the focal point in Colombo for the event, and Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in India for his efforts to bring the event to fruition. The participants represented key companies in India including Wipro, Reliance, Bharat Petroleum, Mahindra & Mahindra, Jet Airways, Bajaj Electric, Gestetner, Sahara Airlines, Hero Honda, Coca Cola, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Tata Motors, Godrej, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Petroleum, Stock Exchanges, Siemens, Hindustan Times Samsung, Ministry of Steel, Indian Airlines, ICICI Bank and Satyam. |
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