IT'S time to throw out those tired metaphors about the Indian economy being a lumbering elephant. For, at the first-ever gathering of Indians at Singapore, the Global Indian Entrepreneurs' Conference (GIEC) to be held at Singapore's Raffles City Convention Centre from June 19 to June 21, India is being dubbed the 'uncaged tiger'. Says S. Iswaran, a director in Singapore's Ministry of Trade: "As far as we know, it's the first conference of its kind in the world."
Being planned since last October, the conference is pitched at the 250-odd corporate chiefs who are Indians as well as those interested in investing in India. The meet aims to discuss the challenge facing India's economic reforms, the Indian diaspora and its business potential, India's emerging relationship with East Asia, and the importance of Singapore where more than 200,000 ethnic Indians, mainly from south India, live.
The GIEC is being organised by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and is supported by three Singapore government bodies, the Economic Development Board, the Tourist Promotion Board and the Trade Development Board. The proposal was first mooted by Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1993.
For Indians, it is a good start. For decades, they have watched the Chinese business community engage in guangxi, or networking. Now it's India's turn. Singapore is pulling out all stops to give the conference a truly high-powered global tone. Their line: India's opening up has created a lot of opportunities. Let's get in there.
Prime Minister Goh will be guest of honour at one of the gatherings at this high-profile meet while Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (son of senior minister Lee Kuan Yew) will deliver the keynote address at the official opening. Singapore's President Ong Teng Cheong will host a garden party for speakers and delegates.
At the conference itself, the creme de la creme of the Indian business community from India, the US and the UK will deliver speeches. Finance Minister Manmohan Singh will make an opening presentation to set the tone for the conference. He has confirmed his attendance, but his presence at the conference is subject to the Indian elections and their outcome. Even if the Congress party is voted out of power, the conference organisers would still be happy to have him speak on account of his indelible contribution to the reform process. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh will also be present to provide the opposition perspective. He will speak on the BJP's economic policies, and whether the party is in favour of slowing down the reforms.
Yet another star attraction at the conference will be academic heavyweight, Prof C.K. Prahlad, the Harvey C. Freuhaf Professor of Business Administration at Michigan University in the US, and widely acknowledged as one of the most influential management gurus in the world today.
The plenary presentation on Indian liberalisation will be made by Prof Roderick Lemonde MacFarquhar, the Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science at Harvard University.
One panel discussion will include such influential participants as Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Industries; Sam Pitroda who chairs the board of the US-based World Tel International Telecommunications Union; Paul Singh, CEO and president of Primus Telecommunications Inc, USA; Tidu Maini, managing director of GEC-Marconi, UK; and M. Narasimhan, chairman, Administrative Staff College of India.
Another panel discussion will be led by Hari Harilela, chairman of Hong Kong's Harilela Group; Ramesh Vangal, president, Pepsico Food International Asia Pacific, Singapore; Raj Bagri, chairman, Metdist Ltd, UK; and Patrick Daniel, editor, The Business Times , Singapore. An Indian businessman commented: "This time, besides the talk, there's going to be a lot of action." That includes a substantial amount of networking. The Tourism Development Board will organise two visits to Singapore's tourism and infrastructure facilities for the participants.
And lest anyone complains of too much work, there's also a bit of play. The Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce is organising a game of golf for speakers and delegates to be held either at the Orchid or Island Golf Club, which will afford another networking opportunity.
Organisers say they hope to have the series of Global Indian conferences continue, but there are no plans for more conferences at present.
"We're not aiming for quantity, but quality," says Iswaran. Well, with a registration fee of $1,000, and an early bird discount fee of $900 for those who signed up before April, it promises to be an exclusive, high-quality meeting of the tigers of Indian business and academe.
