Global events impact India now more than ever before
HT Corporate Bureau
New Delhi, November 15, 2005
Rioting in France would normally not impact the rupee, but it does.
Global events impact India now more than ever before, like any other
truly globalised economy. There is hardly a world major which hasn't
a stake in India and our own businessmen are going out to invest,
backed by a bulging forex reserve.
The 2005 Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, which kicks off on
Tuesday, will look at some of these themes at length.
Charlotte Crosswell, head of the tech heavy Nasdaq International
in London, and India’s securities market regulator M. Damodaran
will deliberate over the subject of how Indian companies can go
global. And what makes them tick. National Stock Exchange managing
director Ravi Narain will moderate the discussion.
Damodaran needs no introduction, having turned around a beleaguered
UTI, then doing much the same at an equally troubled IDBI.
Crosswell headed the international business division at the London
Stock Exchange before moving to Nasdaq International in London,
responsible for managing relationships with 162 companies in Europe,
West Asia and Africa with a total market capitalisation of approximately
$300 billion.
Another business session features India's telecom czar Sunil Mittal,
chairman of Bharti Tele-ventures, fresh from his record-busting
Vodafone deal and Body Shop founder Anita Roddick. The two will
look at whether shareholders’ value and service to society
can co-exist.
Mittal, who has built one of India’s most efficient telecom
networks, is also sitting on the most valuable telecom franchise
in the country. Roddick, born into an Italian immigrant family in
1942, went on to develop Body Shop, which has grown from being a
Hippie store in England to a multinational company with 1,366 stores
in 46 countries. In 1993, she was one of the five richest women
in England.
Finally on Wednesday, Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram will deliver
the keynote on building a better future for India. Business Standard
editor T.N. Ninan will moderate this session.
Chidambaram has possibly the toughest job in this government, having
to guide India’s next-generation reforms while balancing the
compulsions of coalition politics. Instrumental in liberalising
India’s financial markets, he played a key role in insurance
reforms. He is now one of the strongest votaries of India's newly
defined contribution pension system. Once again on the cusp of presenting
the annual budget, his words will be carefully followed at the summit.
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