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- >Day 4: March 27
- >Keynote Speech: David Mulford
Former US Ambassador to India Remindes AIC of Globalization's Benefits
David Mulford, the former US Ambassador to India stressed the strong relationship between the US and India and the need for the international financial system to be reformed while safeguarding the free flow of capital that has helped generate unprecedented prosperity in recent decades.
Ambassador Mulford, who rejoined Credit Suisse as Vice-Chairman International earlier this month, told the Asian Investment Conference he had chosen to return to the financial industry because he believed it had a critical part to play in the recovery of the world economy.
“It’s very clear to me that the model for growth that has guided the world these last 40 years is under attack,” said Ambassador Mulford. “And if we wish to preserve the progress that has been made by way of better lives for…hundreds of millions of people then we should be aware of this and we should take a strong leadership role in the restoration of our global economy.”
Acknowledging the enhanced risk of protectionism around the world, Ambassador Mulford called for policymakers to remember the vast benefits that the flow of capital across borders had delivered since the 1960s. “We have to recognize our problems. We have to recognize our excesses,” he said. “But we have to ask that the benefits and accomplishments of free capital movement are recognized and preserved by political leaders.”
He argued that the “blame game” served no constructive purpose and expressed his hope that the financial industry, the investment community, governments and regulators would co-operate in essential areas.
“I architected the Brady plan,” recalled Ambassador Mulford, referring to the emerging markets debt restructuring plan introduced in 1989. “That was supposed to be a problem that would take generations to solve, but once the principles were set out, it was resolved in less than three years.”
Ambassador Mulford spoke about the improvements in US-Indian relations during his five year tenure as Ambassador from 2003. “The relationship between the United States and India is unique in the world because it is driven by people-to-people, civil society and the private sector,” he said. “It is less of an official bilateral relationship than you see with many other countries.”
As evidence of the ever-closer ties between India and the US, Ambassador Mulford said New Delhi is the biggest American mission overseas other than Iraq and added that the embassy issued around 60% of all H1-B US visas issued by the US government to foreign workers across the world. He also pointed to notable co-operation in the fields of Value-Added Tax standardization and Intellectual Property rights in India.
Ambassador Mulford praised India’s emergence as a global political and economic power, but said challenges remained, especially with respect to infrastructure development, India’s dependence on imported energy and the 650 million Indians living in rural areas. He called for the productive mobilization of India’s savings, which account for 35% of Gross Domestic Product, and for private investment in the rural economy.
Recalling the most symbolically powerful moment of his time as Ambassador to India, he discussed the US-India civil nuclear agreement, which ended India’s 35 years of isolation. “This was truly a historic moment,” he said. “And it was a statesmanlike deal, because it opened India to the world at large, not just to the United States.”
Secondary Content
Day 4: Photo Album
