Mr. Marcus Wallenburg, Chairman, ICC & Chairman of SAAB and SEB, in his address, noted that the turbulence of the financial markets had led to uncertainty and lack of confidence of the market participants.
This was because globalisation had led to dependence on global supply systems. Further, SMEs which had been drawn into the multilateral trading system have locked in to the global supply systems, adding to their vulnerability. It was therefore very important to see a happy conclusion of the Doha Round, he pointed out.
Mr. Saroj Kumar Poddar, President, ICCI, India, pointed out that with the changing financial architecture in the Asian region, with inflows into Asia rising from the rest of the world, our financial integration is only going to increase.
Therefore, we would see some impact on our economies following adverse developments in the West through the channel of financial markets as well.
The downward movement in the Asian stock markets in January this year and again over the last few days, in tandem with markets elsewhere, corroborates this trend, he said.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry