British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected calls to take protectionist measures against job losses to India and said Britain has no alternative but to compete in an age of globalisation. British companies will benefit in the long run from letting some jobs migrate to India and China, he said in a major economic speech last week. Blair admitted he was shocked by the pace of globalisation, including the massive rise in computer and technocratic specialists in the Far East. However, he insisted Britain had no alternative but to try to compete. The British Prime Minister said it was time to ?take on and defeat? the resurgent voices of protectionism. In the speech at Goldman Sachs, the investment bankers in London, Blair said globalisation has brought greater possibilities for people?new consumer goods, travel, tastes?but also ?a deep and abiding insecurity?. He cited his own constituency of Sedgefield, which was hit by the closure of coal mines, where people had worked for generations. He rejected concern over the transfer of jobs to countries like India or China. ?Yes, China competes with us and can take jobs away. But our exports to China have also trebled since 1996, creating more jobs here.? Blair asserted that the Labour Party was ?pro-stability, pro-business and pro-enterprise?. He agreed that these values used to be naturally associated with right-wing politics, but said: ?Today they are part of the agenda of the modern progressive centre left.? In his defence of the long-term benign impact of globalisation, Blair pointed to a recent report by the McKinsey management consultancy on outsourcing which, he said, ?showed that, contrary to every instinctive reaction, such methods are not merely necessary for business to survive, but can increase the provision of jobs if the extra competitive advantage is properly used.? He argued: ?We have to take on and defeat the resurgent voices of protectionism. Globalisation presents us with a choice: embrace it and make it work for us, or try to thwart it. This is the choice hanging over the World Trade Organisation.? ?Without hesita-tion we believe in embracing global-isation and making it work,? Blair said. Diljit Rana?New Indian envoy in Northern Ireland iljt Rana, a prominent Indian businessman in Northern Ireland, has been appointed India’sHonorary Consul in Belfast. Rana was presented the commission of appointment from the President by Indian High Commissioner in London, Ronen Sen at a dinner attended by over 200 dignitaries on March 8. Rana, awarded Member of the British Empire (MBE), is a prominent figure in trade and industry circles in Northern Ireland, and maintains close links with India. He is involved in setting up an educational institution in Punjab, the land of his birth. Handing over the commission of appointment, Sen noted that presence of dignitaries at the event reflected the goodwill India had among the people of Northern Ireland and also of the esteem in which Rana was held. Sen said Rana’sappointment reflected India’sdesire to forge closer cooperation with Northern Ireland and other regions of the UK. Rana’sappointment was in recognition of his contribution to the economic development of Northern Ireland and his commitment to promoting commercial, economic, educational, scientific and technological cooperation with India, Sen said. Those present on the occasion included Paul Murphy, British secretary of state for Northern Ireland, John Spellar, minister of state, leaders of all the five political parties in Northern Ireland, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Mayor of Castlereagh, the head of the civil service and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster. Murphy hailed the role played by the Indian community in Northern Ireland and welcomed the decision to appoint an honorary consul ?as a real indication of what the Indian community has given to the people of Northern Ireland?. He noted that India’slinks with Northern Ireland had grown significantly in recent years, especially in trade and investment spheres. Rana is considered a pioneer of the redevelopment and regeneration of the Golden Mile in Belfast. His company, Andras House Ltd, is today one of the largest hotels and property chains in Northern Ireland. Golden Mile and its neighbourhood have some of Belfast’shistoric buildings and are filled with hotels, restaurants, cafes, stores and office buildings. He was president of the Belfast Chamber of Trade and presently is the vice president of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Trade and Commerce. He is also a member of the Confederation of British Industry, which awarded him the Judges Special Award for Social Enterprise for 1999. Rana has won several other distinctions, including the Northern Ireland Tourism Award in 1998. The Rana Charitable Trust has contributed substantially to local charities. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1985, and awarded an MBE in the Queen’sBirthday Honours List in 1996. He has also been conferred honorary doctorates by the University of Ulster and Queens University in Belfast. He led the last two annual Northern Ireland trade missions to India, which resulted in many partnership ventures. Indian companies have been investing in Northern Ireland, the most prominent being the Apollo Contact Centre, a Belfast-based call-centre owned by the HCL Technologies. Indian doctors and nurses are also employed in Northern Ireland hospitals and nursing homes. (The writer is a UK-based journalist and can be contacted on sprasun@hotmail.com)
