The economic meltdown has provided an opportunity to review and take corrective measures in existing global financial systems, structures and coordination mechanism, she said in her valedictory address at the seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference in Chennai.

"Your decision to invest in India will also be a strong rebuff to the terrorists who attacked Mumbai. These attacks were perpetrated by groups inimical to a progressive, prosperous and secular India," the President said.

She said that the meltdown has opened the debate of financial management of credit and banking systems.

"It is now raising the spectre of recession in several countries. This has had its echo in our region as well. We need to learn lessons from the ongoing crisis and take measures to secure the future growth prospects of the global economy," Patil said.

She said, “Our economy has both the capacity and the resilience to remain on course for economic growth. It offers an opportunity to invest in a stable, growing market. I would like to see overseas Indian's benefit from the various economic opportunities that India offers."

She said there was a need for better regulatory systems and best practices in the management of capital markets as well as in fiscal policy.

Further, in order to have a fair and orderly market, "We must enforce transparent rules, as absence of regulation can and does create hazards," Patil said.

Stressing that "our focus for the future was to expand economic opportunity and propel our economy towards higher growth rates," Patil said, "Our task will be undertaken in a climate of a global slowdown but I believe that we have the capacity to grow even in these difficult times."

For this purpose, the monetary and fiscal stimulus packages of the government should generate the confidence, she said.

Saying that the global economy was "integrated," Patil called for restructuring of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on a "broad basis". "The global economy today is so integrated that what happens in one part of the world can affect different parts of the world, she said.

The President said that India can contribute to this process in a significant way.

While commending the role of five million overseas workers who remit to India equivalent to between $10 to 12 billion every year, Patil said the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MIOA) should consider whether it was possible to institute a separate set of awards to recognise the contribution of Indian workers abroad.

The President gave away the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammaan Awards to NRIs including Ramdien Sardjoe, Vice-President of Suriname, Mauritius Vice-President Angidi Veeriah Chettiar and management guru C K Prahalad.

Saying that common citizens, policemen, firemen and special forces laid down their lives both as ‘innocent victims’ and ‘valiant warriors’ to defend the city, Patil also paid tributes to them.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala said that Tamil Nadu with its world-class infrastructure, "mature eco-system" and good educational and health facilities, was rated as one of the top three investment destinations in India. "It is one of the fastest growing state economies," the Governor said.

Text: PTI | Video: Rajesh Karkera

Also read: Complete Coverage: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas