HINDUSTAN TIMES MINT LUXURY CONFERENCE 2007

New Delhi , March 30, 2007 : The Hindustan Times Mint Luxury Conference 2007 got off to a glorious start on Friday with around 425 delegates registered on the first day of the two-day conference. Incorporating the theme ‘ India : Captivating the World' , the HT Mint Luxury Conference 2007 is being held at the Taj Palace Hotel. Mr.Kamal Nath , Minister for Commerce and Industry , India ; Ms.Christine Lagarde , Minister for Foreign Trade , France ; Ms.Shobhana Bhartia , Vice-Chairperson and Editorial Director and Mr. Vir Sanghvi , Editorial Advisor were present at the inaugural ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kamal Nath said, ‘ India is a young country which is home to around 20% of the world's population under 24 years. So, demographically Indian consumers are getting younger, more knowledgeable and more assertive which has contributed to increasing buoyancy in the market for luxury goods and premium products'. 

‘What a difference a year makes', said Ms. Shobhana Bhartia, in her address, ‘Today, India is firmly established as THE place to be, a small yet sizeable market that is finally starting to come into its own for luxury goods'.

Adding to Mr. Kamal Nath's assertion on the importance of Intellectual Property Rights to help luxury goods segment, Ms. Christine Lagarde, said, ‘If we combine intellectual property with industry appetite, then we might reach the nirvana of luxury'.

The 2-day conference will see a host of speakers i ncluding Mr. Yves Carcelle, Chairman & CEO, Louis Vuitton Malletier; Ms. Francoise Montenay, Président, Chanel SAS & Chairman, Comité Colbert; Mr. Christophe Caillaud, CEO, Jean Paul Gaultier; Mr Didier Grumbach, President, Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode;  Mr. Michele Norsa, CEO, Salvatore Ferragamo; Mr. Christian Louboutin, Luxury Shoemaker; Philippe Leopold-Metzger, CEO, Piaget; Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Group President, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.; Alain Viot, CEOand Managing Director, Lladró; Christian Blanckaert, EVP, Hermès International (in charge of international affairs) and Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, President & CEO, Comitè Colbert among others.

HT Media is holding the conference jointly under the aegis of its flagship English daily Hindustan Times and its new business daily, Mint, for which HT Media has partnered with the Wall Street Journal. The media partners for the
conference are CNN-IBN, CNBC TV 18, The Wall Street Journal and Verve.


For further information, please contact:

Perfect Relations Celna 9873515626 cchacko@perfectrelations.com

Sukriti 9810182231 ssingh@perfectrelations.com
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