The 13th Annual Wharton India Economic Forum Presents: India - The Road Ahead

About

The Wharton School is pleased to invite you to the 13th Annual Wharton India Economic Forum. This event is a leading business forum for thought-leaders, professionals, alumni, faculty and students to discuss the unprecedented opportunities that lie in India's way and the challenges that need to be addressed to realize these opportunities.

Experience "India: The Road Ahead"

The proverbial Elephant had long given way to the roaring Tiger. Favorable demographics post-liberalization, portrayed by a rising in-the-money middle class, has been fueling the spurt in consumption that has made India the favorite investable playground for global majors. Hand in hand, the country has been gaining prominence over the last two decades as a preferred destination for setting up shop given its acknowledged (and oft-disputed) cost advantages, its ubiquitous skilled workforce and its undying spirit of innovation.

The India as we know had been poised to be the second largest economy over the next few decades, and this is aptly reinforced by the 8%-plus GDP growth in recent times. Indian companies have started creating history in their own right as they achieved their global aspirations and exponential growth through some of the more renowned M&A activities across the entire business spectrum.

The global economic meltdown has, however, created a host of uncertainties. While India has been enjoying a unique niche for itself in the global economic space even in the times of the Raj through its spice trade, and more recently, through its dot-com innovations in the aftermath of the technology bust, it remains to be seen how it differentiates itself in the changed financial landscape of today's world. Compounded with the political uncertainty as another national election comes round the corner, the bullish sectors of yesteryear would need to develop new competitive strategies and operating paradigms to continue on their promised path to long-term sustainable growth.

The Wharton India Economic Forum invites you to partake in a day-long debate and discussion about the agenda for India's economic future that promises to be tested by current domestic and global challenges. Come to learn from the country's top industrialists, entrepreneurs, lawmakers, academicians, investors, financial gurus and media-men on how this economic superpower plans to ride the tide with its spirit of perseverance. This is an outstanding forum to reinforce (or, challenge) your beliefs about the next Info-Who.

And long after the growth story would have unfolded, do plan to spend some time with the glitterati of the nation's booming entertainment industry.

We invite you to come experience the marvel that is India, yet again.

An impressive history

Since its inception 13 years ago, the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) has been, and continues to be, the leading business forum focused on India in the United States. WIEF was launched in 1996 at The Wharton School with a mission to engage the world’s attention, on India’s enormous potential and the limitless possibilities the country offers. India’s evolution both as an emerging economic power and as an increasingly important contributor to the global community has helped the conference to broaden its perspectives. Since the first forum, WIEF has stimulated energetic dialogue between current and future leaders from various walks of economic, social and political life, and has been covered in over twenty-five leading global newspapers and magazines. Most recently, in 2007, WIEF attracted over 700 attendees, including prominent business figures, policy makers, professionals and students, to debate pertinent issues, relevant to the Indian economy, under the expansive theme “India: Imagine.”

An even brighter future

As we look ahead, we aim to continue and build on the forum’s impressive history and the past successes we have had, in order to further our outreach and broaden our examination of issues. Past forums have duly focused on how to mobilize and prepare India, as a nation, to define and deliver on its incredible potential and the expectations that come with it. We now take the debate a step further, go beyond the ordinary and explore new frontiers for India as it establishes itself firmly on the world stage. Our conference theme this year is “The Road Ahead” and it is in an originative and inspired mood that we wish to consider and examine what lies in store for India. We aspire to be a forum for discussing, not just India’s economic prospects in the world, but also how it can be a politically active and socially responsible power. It is essential, given the current state of world affairs that India be prepared to go beyond the ordinary and truly actualize itself as a country, in terms of its immense resources, human and material, as well as everything else it has at its disposal. Our aim, going forward, is to be thought leaders and foster a creative dialogue on how this might be possible, what indeed India is capable of and how it, as a country, can transcend expectations and realize its true place in the world.

Some Past Conferences

• 11th Wharton India Economic Forum: “Realizing the Indian Dream”
  Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto
  Rajat Gupta, Former Worldwide Managing Director, McKinsey & Co.
  Patrick T. Harker, Dean, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
  Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary General, United Nations
• 10th Wharton India Economic Forum: “India’s Mantra for Success”
  Ahmass Fakahany, Vice-Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer, Merrill Lynch
  Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC
  Charles (Chip) Kaye, Co-President, Warburg Pincus
• 9th Wharton India Economic Forum: “The Dawn of An Indian Century”
  Vivek Paul, Vice-Chairman, Wipro
  Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon
  Lord Meghnad Desai, Member of the House of Lords, UK
  K.P. Singh, Chairman, DLF Universal Group
• 8th Wharton India Economic Forum: “India: Investment for the Future”
  Sam Pitroda, Chairman, World Tel Ltd. and Founder, C-Sam Inc.
  Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Satyam Computers Limited
  Jay S. Sidhu, Chairman, President & CEO, Sovereign Bancorp and Sovereign Bank
  Frank G. Wisner, Vice Chairman, AIG and Former US Ambassador to India
• 7th Wharton India Economic Forum: “Growth in Uncertain Times: Innovation and Globalization”
  Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and MD, Reliance Industries
  Sunil Mittal, Chairman and MD, Bharti Enterprises
  Arshad Zakaria, EVP & Co-President of Global Markets & Investment Banking, Merrill Lynch