Saurabh Gupta | 07 Nov, 2009
Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh is scheduled to inaugurate the two-day India Economic Summit in the national capital on November 8.

The World Economic Forum in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is celebrating 25 years of active engagement in India at its annual India Economic Summit, taking place from November 8 to 10.

This year's Summit has set a new record for total participation with over 800 leaders from industry, government, civil society and academia from over 40 countries. The theme for this year’s Summit is "India's Next Generation of Growth."

During a press conference recently, CII Director-General, Chandrajit Banerjee told media, "While the Indian economy registered 6.7% growth - outshining the developed economies and many emerging economies during the year of global economic and financial crisis - the need for further reforms and drive to be a globally competitive economy cannot be under-emphasized."

"The India Economic Summit in partnership with the World Economic Forum is the global platform to find ways to further reforms and build competitiveness at the next level," he added.

Other key public figures from India include- Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance; Palaniappan Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs; Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry; Kamal Nath, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Montek S. Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission; Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development; Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; Ambika Soni, Minister of Information and Broadcasting; Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations; Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs; Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry; K. V. Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture and Consumer Affairs; Mullapally Ramachandran, Minister of State for Home Affairs; Kiran Walia, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development and Languages, Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi; and Ajay Shankar, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The six top industry leaders serving as Co-Chairs for the Summit are: Shumeet Banerji, Chief Executive Officer, Booz & Company, United Kingdom; Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Renault, France; President and Chief Executive Officer, Nissan, Japan; William D. Green, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Accenture, USA; Baba N. Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Forge, India; Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, India; and Indra Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo, USA.

"The programme for this year’s Summit will lead to concrete recommendations for addressing key challenges such as skill development, financial empowerment of the poor and development of female talent," remarked Sushant Palakurthi Rao, Director and Head of Asia at the World Economic Forum.

"Next to its strong economic fundamentals, India’s youthful population calls attention to a demographic dividend which could see India become a hub for manufacturing and technological innovations," added Palakurthi Rao.