Geneva/New Delhi – “India is on the global agenda and India is good news. The Indian economy has been showing good signs of growth,” said Colette Mathur, Director of the World Economic Forum, at a press conference today. She was joined by Sunil K. Munjal, Vice-President of the Confederation of Indian Industry. They were jointly addressing a press conference in New Delhi on the 19th India Economic Summit to be held in Delhi from 23 to 25 November. The Summit is supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), within the government of India.

The three-day India Economic Summit’s theme is “Enhancing India’s Competitiveness: A Must for Growth”. Briefing the media, Colette Mathur said that last year the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Economic Forum had identified six pillars critical to India’s success in achieving 8% growth. These were economic reforms, financial services, exports and FDI, geopolitics, manufacturing and the energy sector.

For this year’s Summit, four blueprints have been prepared by experts from academia and the business community focusing on infrastructure, corporate social responsibility, ICT and agriculture. Participants will discuss these blueprints at several sessions during the Summit and will further make their recommendations to be submitted to the relevant Indian ministries.

In his opening remarks Sunil Munjal said that it was a “vote of confidence” that over 400 participants from 20 countries will be participating in the Summit. He further added, “Such a strong participation is also an indication regarding the India Summits, which have proved very useful as an interface between the international and Indian business communities, the government of India and international political leaders.”

Among key senior Indian government officials participating in record number are Jaswant Singh, Minister of Finance; Yashwant Sinha, Minister of External Affairs; Arun Jaitley, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Law and Justice; and Arun Shourie, Minister of Information Technology and Communications and Disinvestment. The key government secretaries who will be present are Rajeeva R. Shah, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Kanwal Sibal, Foreign Secretary; Shashank, Secretary (EAA), Ministry of External Affairs; R. M. Abhyankar, Secretary (ANA), Ministry of External Affairs; Rathi Vinay Jha, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism; S. Narayan, Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister; S. N. Menon, Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Rajiv Sikri, Special Secretary (ER), Ministry of External Affairs; Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and L. Mansingh, Director-General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. N. K. Singh, Member of the Planning Commission, will also be addressing Summit participants along with Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi.

Key representatives from abroad include Mohammad Hossein Adeli, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Kobsak Chutikul, Member of Parliament and Deputy Leader, Chart Thai Party, Thailand; Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago, USA; Ong Keng-Yong, Secretary-General, ASEAN, Jakarta; Philippe de Buck, Secretary-General, Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe (UNICE), Belgium; Frank Pallone Jr, Congressman from New Jersey (Democrat), USA; Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of Sri Lanka; Kenneth Juster, US Undersecretary of Commerce; and Zhu Min, General Manager and Economic Adviser to the President, Bank of China, People's Republic of China.

The Summit will be co-chaired by Rahul Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Auto, India; Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York; Henner Klein, Chief Executive Officer Elect, A.T. Kearney, USA; and N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies, India.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world. The Forum provides a collaborative framework for the world's leaders to address global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members in global citizenship. Incorporated as a foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum

www.weforum.org

More from World Economic Forum