The former actor told a conference in Hannover, Germany, there needed to be a renewed sense of optimism to get people through the financial crisis.

He said: “It doesn’t make any sense for people to sit back and whine and complain about the economy slowing down. We have to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem”

Schwarzenegger also warned CeBIT, the world’s largest technology trade show, against the danger of pursuing protectionist policies.

He said: “But this closing of borders, punishing people for doing business outside their country is something we have done [in the past] in America – and it has backfired in a huge way.

“The world is a marketplace and we need to protect the consumer. The only way we can do that is if we let the consumer choose products from around the world and not punish the consumer if products come from outside the country.”

Schwarzenegger was in Hannover to promote more than 50 Californian technology companies participating in this year’s show.

He pushed especially for a renewed sense of optimism about green technologies and their potential to lift us out of the economic crisis.