HINDUSTAN TIMES LUXURY CONFERENCE 2006 TAKES OFF SUCCESSFULLY Mumbai, January 13, 2006: The Hindustan Times Luxury Conference 2006 was a success with around 350 delegates registered on first day of the 2 – day conference. "Luxury is like freedom. It means different things to different people," was Francois Steiner's understanding of luxury. Steiner, CEO, Kenzo, was speaking at the first post-lunch session of the Hindustan Times Luxury Conference 2006. The speakers during the second half reiterated the point made by the ones in the first half of the day: India has tremendous potential as a luxury goods destination. Also, that luxury is more about lifestyle than products. Organised by Hindustan Times in association with FICCI and NID, the afternoon session had several high-powered speakers including Steiner, Paolo Zegna of the Ermenegilda Zegna Group, and Gianluca Brozzetti, group CEO of the Asprey and Garrad Jewellery brands. Zegna hoped to emulate their successful China model. He said, like in China, where the company has a joint venture with another family-run business called Sharmoon, they would like to pilot a tie-up in India with a company that shares similar values but would be comfortable with Zegna leading the business. Both Zegna and Brozzetti made the point about how the hurdles of high export duties, red tape and low transparency remained making India a challenging market to penetrate and survive in. Brozzetti also spoke of how India and Britain had several cultural links dating back to the 17th century. Garrad now is sourcing stones and taking inspiration from India's rich cultural heritage specifically for their 'Raj collection' jewellery line. "It is a county of craftsmanship," he said. Later, Armando Branchini of Altagamma, an association of premium Italian companies, made incisive forecasts of country-wise sales. Research by Altagamma showed that by 2014 the Japanese will generate 20 per cent of the sales in luxury goods, Chinese 23 per cent and Indians two per cent among Asian countries. Branchini would like to see the figure at five per cent by 2014 but this would depend on several factors all directly or indirectly linked to the policies of the Indian government. A day full of glitz and glamour ended with a joint session by FICCI and Ogilvy & Mather, which addressed the relation between luxury goods and the Indian consumer. According to a survey conducted by FICCI, many respondents believed that luxury means 'something which only few people can afford'. The Hindustan Times Luxury Conference has been organised in association with FICCI and NID. HT Media Limited has a leadership position in the English newspaper market in the North and East and made its entry into Mumbai in July 2005. Hindustan Times, the flagship publication of the group, has a circulation of over 1.1 million and is the fastest growing mainline English newspaper in terms of readership.

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