BOTTOMLINE: CII PARTNERSHIP SUMMIt SEEKS TO REDRAW BOUNDARIES OF DOING BUSINESS

New paradigms for a new age

Our Management Bureau

Over 1,000 delegates. 60 speakers. Seven Union ministers and two chief ministers. 13 business delegations from as many countries. Finally, the attendance of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. All of this spread over seven days in sylvan Bangalore. That is the promise of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Partnership Summit 2002—starting from January 5—which is billed to be the biggest of its annual summits, so far. At another level, it could also be an indication of the mood of corporate India: the spirit of revival and corporate recovery may be well on its way.

The inaugural session is in the impressive Infosys campus (Infosys chairman N R Narayana Murthy doubles as chairman of the summit, too), but the venue later shifts to Hotel Westend in Bangalore. With a weekend falling between the week-long programme, CII has thrown in a golf tournament for the CEOs and some shopping and sightseeing for those who visit Bangalore only occasionally, particularly those coming in from overseas.

This is CII’s eighth Partnership Summit, the first one having been flagged off in Kolkata in 1995 to mark its centenary. But this year’s event marks a change in many ways. For one, this will be the biggest summit so far with trade delegates expected from countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the US, the UK, Singapore, Sweden, Russia, Thailand, Egypt and a large contingent from the West Asian countries. Further, in tune with the times, post September 9 and December 13, the theme of the summit is: Local Boundaries, Global Frontiers.

Among the delegates attending the summit are a US Congressional delegation, management gurus such as C K Prahlad, Prof. Marti G Subramaniam from New York University and Prof. Krishna Palepu, associate senior dean of Harvard University. On its part, CII believes that the Eighth Summit “will redraw the boundaries of doing business in the new realities and add fresh perspective to the corporate planning process”.

One change that the CII has brought about this year is that it has planned all the sessions to be plenary ones, rather than the smaller sessions that had been the practice in the past. Also, the conference has been sliced into a few important categories. Despite the slowdown in the US, there is a big focus on Indo-US relations.

Interestingly, a new focus of attention from overseas this time is the growing importance attached to trade and business opportunities with West Asian and African countries. That also includes potential opportunities with South Africa. In fact, Egypt has been given so much importance that four of their cabinet ministers are attending the summit, even though they will not be part of any plenary session. The implication: their one main objective is to scout for business opportunities with India. China and WTO continue to be big-draw events. Finally, there is a clear focus on issues that pertain to the Indian corporate sector: critical analysis of globalisation and corporate governance issues.

Clearly, the die has been cast for the big event. The next few days will reveal how well CII lives up to its promises.