Create investment-friendly climate, PM urges bureaucrats

New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday stressed the need to build a climate favouring enterprise and investment while Observing that the current economic downturn was only temporary.

"I believe that we are facing only a temporary downturn that we should correct as quickly as possible...more needs to be done, especially for building a climate that is perceived to be friendly to enterprise," Singh said inaugurating the 8th Civil Services Day function here.

Addressing the participiting bureaucrats, the prime minister said: "Many of you work in areas and organisations that have a direct bearing on the achievement of this task (attracting investment), and I would urge you to give the maximum possible attention to it."

The country's GDP growth rate slipped to a decadal low of almost 5 percent in 2012-13.

Emphasising the need for boosting investment across sectors, Mnmohan Singh said the government has taken a major initiative in setting up the Cabinet Committee on Investment for speedy clearance of industrial and infrastructural projects.

He said in the last two decades or so, the role of the government has undergone a major transformation in many sectors of the economy.

"We have moved far away from the command and control economy of the earlier times. Ensuring good governance and managing the economy today are complex tasks."

"How to ensure that our Civil Services have the required sets of skills to manage this complexity is a major challenge before us. I would urge you to consider ways and means of meeting this challenge," he said.