THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The next phase of the Kerala Model of development will face serious global challenges, said Professor Olle Törnquist, Emeritus Professor, University of Oslo, Norway. Conservative nationalism, now catching up across the globe, is the most serious threat to Kerala, he said.
Tornquist was delivering the eighth IS Gulati commemoration lecture on ‘Will Kerala’s knowledge-based development lose out to conservative nationalism?’, organised by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) here on Friday. Generally, conservative theories based on religion, nationality or ethnicity pose a serious threat to economic development, especially in less developed nations, he said.
“This issue is more serious in the case of emerging economies like Kerala, which is evolving into a knowledge-based economy,” he said.
“Geopolitical tensions developing in various parts of the world will jeopardise the development of underdeveloped and developing countries. In the case of Kerala, the state can carry forward its development only through knowledge-and-technology-based industries. The growth of conservative nationalism will become a hurdle to the new order of development of the state. Unfortunately, the Government of India also favours nationalist and religious conservative approaches,” he said.
He said that stable governance would attract serious investors to the state. Democratisation of knowledge will open a new development path to Kerala and a new model to the world, he said. The state should also be keen on sustained development of human and physical infrastructure. He emphasised the importance of KIIFB in this regard. Former finance minister T M Thomas Issac chaired the session. Professor K J Joseph, director, GIFT, Professor Leela Gulati, wife of I S Gulati, Prof K P Kannan and Prof A V Jose attended.