The 10th Wharton India Economic Forum, the leading student-run annual business conference in the United States, will bring under critical focus the challenges and opportunities for investors in India.
It will also discuss the government's policy towards deregulation and liberalisation as well as other important issues in Philadelphia on November 18.
The theme of the conference to be addressed by Deepak Parekh, chairman of HDFC, Charles 'Chip' Kaye, co-president, Warburg Pincus, and M Damodaran, chairman of SEBI, among others, is 'India's Mantra for Success'.
Other speakers include Ahmass Fakahany, CAO, Merrill Lynch and Jairam Ramesh, MP, Congress party and author of 'Making sense of Chindia', as well as N K Singh, member of India's Planning Commission and former revenue secretary, Avnish Bajaj, CEO, bazee.com and Rangu Salgame, president of Cisco Systems, India.
While Ramesh will voice his views on 'India: The Road Ahead,' Fakahany and Kaye will debate 'India-China: The Partnership?'
The concluding keynote speaker for the conference will be Parekh who will share his ideas on 'How to Build a World Class Organization'.
"This year at the landmark 10th annual forum, we have altered our structure and basic approach towards the conference. In the past, the conference has focused on different buzz industries in India - BPO, IT and pharma and discussed the 'hot' sector trends in India and compare the strengths/challenges facing these particular industries," said Kanush Chaudhury, a member of the WIEF executive committee and one of the four conference chairs.
"This year's conference structure and approach is to move beyond projecting the opportunities that India offers to focus on transforming this into tangible results. Thought leaders from all around the world would debate and deliberate on the factors that would ensure success for ex-pats, foreign investors, NRI's, Indian businessmen and students in the India growth story," Chaudhury told India Abroad.
Accordingly, he said, the keynotes will speak on a broad array of topics ranging from India - the Road Ahead; India - China, the Partnership; Growth Strategies in India and China; and How to Build a World Class Organization.
In addition, this year's WIEF will have an exclusive roundtable discussion about 'Government Policy - A Catalyst or Barrier'?
The six panel topics include 'Government Policy - A Catalyst or Barrier?; Investing in India; Entrepreneurship; Social Development Is there a bottom of the Pyramid?; Made in India - Creating a Global Brand and Women Leadership.
The panel discussions will focus on strategies through which individuals, corporations and policy makers can together frame India's future. 'De-regulation and opening of Indian economy have made a profound impact on defining Indian economic mantra.
Analysing how it is, its strengths and weaknesses, and potential threats and opportunities is crucial for the mantra to be geared towards success and effectively adopted by businesses,' WIEF said in a statement referring to the panel on 'Government Policy'.
'The roundtable discussion seeks to demystify and analyze our 'public' policy and seeks to build a roadmap for getting the private 'stakeholders' to be more aware and involved.'
The WIFE statement noted that the emergence of new asset classes and success of early investors in India has attracted a lot of attention in the recent past.
According to WIEF, while this represents potential opportunities and numerous players have made a move into India, there are significant challenges associated with investing and ensuring success in India.
'Investing in India panel would bring to life these challenges and strategies adopted to mitigate the risks. The topics discussed will include India's economic climate, its emerging capital markets, Indian investment opportunities and risks, and the potential impact of regulatory reform,' WIEF said.
Panelists will represent seasoned investors and will provide their thoughts on the relative attractiveness of several industries. In addition, they will provide their views on the opportunities available for Indian students looking to return to India.
On fostering entrepreneurship, a buzzword in India today, WIEF noted that the success stories of the Indian community in Silicon Valley coupled with the opportunities provided by India's economic reforms have propelled many NRIs and resident Indians to start new ventures in India over the past few years.
However, it cautioned, 'despite India's extraordinary talent pool many challenges exist today in transforming the passion into reality.'
The entrepreneurship panel will highlight the vision and resilience needed to build strong organizations and the key factors required to succeed in an ever-changing economy with unpredictable dynamics.
Speakers from different industries, entrepreneurial backgrounds and the venture capital industry will debate the opportunities and risks of setting up new ventures in India.
In response to a question about the theme of this year's conference Chaudhury said business forums in the past have focused on tracing the India growth story, analyzing the challenges faced by the economy and the tracking the growth of buzz industries.
"We chose 'India's Mantra for Success' due to the unique approach this theme suggests. We have interpreted "success" to mean India achieving its potential both in terms of economic and social development and after settling on this theme, we have tried to create a set of panel discussions that will focus on the ways in which individuals, corporations and policy makers can together frame India's future," Chaudhury said.
"We want to direct the discussion around how the Indian opportunity can be converted into a reality. In essence, we are attempting to put the Indian dream through a reality check in order to get insight into how exactly India can become an economic superpower," Chaudhury said.
Asked if the annual gatherings have led to any tangible result, Chaudhury said the conference, in addition to providing a platform for like-minded professionals, students, academia and business leaders to interact and exchange ideas, has been a milestone in connecting the corporate world, Wharton alumni and students from the top business schools.
"This conference gives alumni from all around the world with deep interest in India a platform to connect. We have received a lot of support from alumni clubs across the country and have strong ties with alumni clubs in India," Chaudhury said. "
Students from Wharton and other B-schools get the opportunity to discuss their ideas and views with top Wharton alumni and other leaders. Several long lasting relationships that have resulted into start-ups, professional networks, and business deals have been initiated at the conference," he added.
Established in 1996, the Wharton India Economic Forum seeks to initiate a dialogue around the potential mechanisms India can utilise to achieve its potential both in terms of economic and social development.
Past speakers at the conference include P Chidambaram, Finance Minister of India; Rajat Gupta, former managing director, McKinsey & Company; Victor Menezes, vice-chairman, Citigroup; Anil Ambani, chairman, ADAE Enterprises, N. R. Narayana Murthy, chairman, Infosys; and Lalit Mansingh, former Indian ambassador to the US as well Frank Wisner, fomer US ambassador to India.
