The Hindu : Call to create right climate for investment

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 11, 2003

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Call to create right climate for investment

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Jan. 10. The new president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Abdulla bin Hamad Al Attiya today urged governments to create the right political, market and technology framework for innovations to flourish.

Addressing the international oil conference Petrotech 2003, Mr. Attiya who is Qatar's Energy and Industry Minister said that for governments to attract the right joint venture partners and hence technology, resource potential was not enough. Neither was sending out a series of trade missions, he said.

Instead, he urged them to create a political and business climate for investment. This would mean a reasonable and stable tax regime, respect of contracts and legal arrangements, solving disputes through amicable agreements rather than legislating, safety of employees and assets of partners and a high level of honesty and corruption-free dealing.

Delivering the theme address at the conference, he said technology transfer has, with time, changed from an aid transaction to an export business. The pace of technological development was increasing faster than ever before, but there was a distrust of science, particularly industry-sponsored science, he said.

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