Brussels, 12/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - European multi-level cooperation is a model from which other global players, such as India, would like to learn lessons. Witness to this was borne in the speech by Indian Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath delivered to European locally elected representatives at the Committee of the Regions (CoR) plenary session on Wednesday 12 October. Nath told the Committee that India's exponential growth (more than 8%) brought with it massive challenges in terms of town planning and infrastructure development. “Our population is highly mobile and young. People are leaving the rural areas to move to towns and cities. The urban sector represents 60% of GDP. The challenge of urban development is, then, one of significant scale”, he said. To address these challenges, the minister wants to develop incentives and put in place development plans to ensure that even the smallest regions are financially sustainable and viable. Nath hopes to learn from the models which the European regions have put in place, for example, public-private partnerships (PPPs) on water and waste management. “What are the main PPP models? What are the rules, the conditions to be met? We need the expertise of the EU regions, especially the smallest. We could build strong links between our local authorities and Europe.” The minister said that this would not just be a matter of exchanging best practice with the cities and regions but would include investment possibilities for European companies taking part in Indian PPPs.
Nath's speech was the first to the CoR by a government representative of a developing country, and a first that CoR President Mercedes Bresso welcomed, giving assurances that the regions were all ready to share their experiences and knowledge gained with their Indian counterparts. (MD/transl.rt)