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Improving energy efficiency and upgrading industry chain are very important for Asias sustainable development as economy in Asia faces daunting challenges posed by globalization, said an Indian official Thursday.
To achieve sustainable development, Asian countries must look to activities which require less of polluting energy but more dependent on renewable energy, therefore improving energy efficiency and high productivity is very important, said N. K. Singh, member of Indian Parliament, during an inclusive interview with xinhuanet at the ongoing 2012 summer Davos Forum in Tianjin.
When talking about risks facing Asian economy, Singh said the first risk is sensible economic condition trumped by short-term political consideration.
Countries must learn from Europe, but must not follow policies which will destabilize macro-economic framework, such as fiscal deficit, current account deficit. This is the biggest risk, he explained.
He further said that the second risk is food security, which means whether Asia will be able to produce enough food to meet challenges of its growing population.
He said the third challenge is how to lower energy intensity with economic growth. And the last challenge is whether enough jobs and new value-added jobs can be created as Asia becomes an increasingly innovation-based society and knowledge-driven society.
Asian countries must move towards from low-end manufacturing to high-end manufacturing, Singh stressed, adding that education is the priority during that process.
When asked about the role of innovation in manufacturing upgrading, Singh said innovation requires research and development.
He stressed the importance of strong linkage not only between the research and development, university and industry, but also between university and the end users of research and development in a manner which fosters the culture of innovation to come up.
Remember that societies which tolerate failures in research and development are likely to cultivate innovation culture faster than if there is only premium on all efforts in research and development necessarily ending in the positive outcome, Singh noted. |
