ANNUAL REVIEW08 | 09 international interface 9 India and the world The last few months of 2008 brought to the world a complex set of challenges. Even as the financial crisis deepened, the International Department of CII helped Corporate India to increase its international engagement and remained a forum for businessmen to share perspectives on global issues, by providing opportunities and linkages across the world. During the year, CII brought over 23 delegations comprising of more than 2,500 senior representatives of government, industry, think tanks and civil society, to India. More than 50 trade missions traveled out of India to different parts of the globe. This exchange resulted in the signing of a large number of sector specific MoUs. The International Department increased its engagement on a wide range of issues structured around corporate India’s priorities. Engagement with the Ministries of Commerce and External Affairs has been From top: David Good, Chairman, IBF and Chief Representative, strengthened to facilitate access to new markets. North America, Tata Sons Ltd, Rajeev Chitrabhanu, CEO & MD, JM Financial Group, Prof. Sugata Bose, Grandier Professor of TheIndia Business Forum (IBF) continued to progress in each History & Chair, South Asian Initiative at Harvard University, Suneeta Reddy, Executive Director-Finance, Apollo Hospitals of the countries where it was launched. IBF South Africa held Group, Ravi Kumar, CMD, BHEL and Harsh Manglik, CMD, four meetings during the year, providing a strong platform for Accenture, India at the CII-IBF Conference in New York in September Indian industry members who invested in the country, to O P Bhatt, Chairman, State Bank of India, Sat Pal Khattar, interact with the local government. Chairman, Khattar Holding Pte Ltd (Singapore), Dr Sanjaya Baru, Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the The Singapore chapter of the CII India Business Forum currently Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, and S Ramadorai, CEO & MD, Tata Consultancy Services, at a has a membership of 40 Indian companies. Over the year, the session on ‘Sustaining Growth in Challenging Times’ in Singapore Forum interacted with several visiting Indian ministers and in August senior Government officials, and local government agencies, such as the Economic Development Board, to offer constructive feedback on policy issues. international interface The IBF USA met three times this year, providing opportunities 86 to its members to share their concerns with the US and Indian Governments. Additionally, the IBF USA constituted sectoral working groups on ICT, pharma and life sciences; financial services and manufacturing. IBF-USA, jointly with CII, organised its first “The India Conference” in September in New York, addressed by thought leaders like Dr Henry A Kissinger, Former US Secretary of State; Prof C K Prahalad, Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Strategy, University of Michigan, and Prof Sugata Bose, Harvard University. Senior Executives from India who attended included Mr Rajeev Chitrabhanu, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, J M Financial Group, Mr David Good, Chief Representative –North America, Tata Sons; Ms Suneeta Reddy, Executive Director – Finance, Apollo Hospitals Group; Mr K Ravi Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, BHEL, and Mr Harsh Manglik, Chairman and Managing Director, Accenture India. InNorth America , CII proactively continued facilitating meetings for American and Indian business leaders and delegations. Among the top executives hosted by CII in India were From top: Ms Indra Nooyi of Pepsi Co, Mr James Lambright of Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, K V Kamath, President, CII, Neelam Deo, Consul General, New York and C B Bhave, Chairman, SEBI, at the EXIM Bank, and Mr Samuel J. Palmisano of IBM. India Financial Market III Conference in New York in June Indra K Nooyi, Chairman & CEO, Pepsico Inc., Kapil Sibal, Minister, Science & Some key initiatives undertaken to widen the Technology and Earth Sciences, and Gautam Thapar Group Chairman, Avantha collaboration framework include ‘The India Financial Group at a meeting in New Delhi in September Below: Markets III’ in June in New York.The CII-USIBC Dr Condoleezza Rice, then Secretary of State, USA, with the Indian team of “Green India Summit” was held in October in the Aspen Strategy Goup at a meeting in Washington DC in December Washington DC. Of the several business missions to the US, the annual CEOs Mission to USA, led by Mr K V Kamath, President, CII, in June was the most prominent. During the 3 day visit to Washington DC and New York, the discussions ranged from Indian investments in the US to civil nuclear cooperation, H1B visas, outsourcing, reverse outsourcing, banking licenses and the role of the Indian American community in the US. The mission members international interface 87 interacted with eminent leaders from Capitol Hill, industry, government and think tanks. Building bridges between political and business leaders, CII facilitated interaction with senior US government leaders including then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Senator Robert Casey, Senator John Cornyn, Senator Richard Lugar, Senator John Kerry, Congressman Gary Ackerman and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. To promote thought leadership as an integral link to stability, good governance and global competitiveness, we organized India visits of eminent personalities like Dr Henry Alfred Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and many others. Strategic Dialogues, initiated by CII to address bilateral and trilateral relations, were taken forward with vigour. Two meetings of the US-India Strategic Dialogue took place, in New Delhi and in Washington DC. Energy security, defence relationship, foreign policy, regional stability and transnational issues were among the subjects discussed. The India-Japan-USA Trilateral Dialogue met twice during the year. The recent trilateral meeting in Tokyo focussed on political developments; the economic crisis; international security challenge; regional architecture and climate change. From top: Contribution in the policy domain continued through Jamshyd N Godrej, Past President, CII, and Chairman, Godrej & Boyce several ongoing dialogues, including the US- India Manufacturing Company, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, US House of Representatives and Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & MD,Mahindra & Mahindra, in Mumbai Commercial Dialogue, Economic Dialogue, High in March 08 Technology Cooperation Group, and ICT Working Ron Somers, President, USIBC, Secretary William Cohen, Chairman, The Cohen Group, Amb Ronen Sen, Indian Ambassador to the US, Kiran Pasricha, Group. Business-academia interactions were Deputy Director General, CII, Dr. Ian Thomas, President, Boeing India and intensified through visits and networking sessions Tim Richards, Director, GE, at a meeting in Washington DC, in October with key business universities of USA like IBSA Study being released by Nalin Surie, Secretary West, MEA, in New Delhi during the 3rd IBSA Business Summit in October. Also seen Georgetown, George Washington, Harvard, MIT, Chandrajit Banerjee, Madhur Bajaj, Chairman, CII-LAC Committee, and Michigan, Rutgers and Johns Hopkins. Syamal Gupta, Chairman, CII-Africa Committee The Indian American Council continues to connect Indian Americans to social development work in India on a pro-bono basis with organizations and communities all over India that can benefit from the transfer of expertise. TheLatin America and Caribbean region occupies a significant position in the new world economic order, collectively a large market and a strong entity through the formation of regional trade blocs. Indian companies in sectors like Pharma, IT and Automobiles have made an impressive entry all over the LAC region. CII has, in the last few years, brought together business from India and the LAC countries to identify new opportunities. The Government of India’s Focus LAC programme has helped CII build strong programmes for these interactions. international interface The Vice President of El Salvador visited India with a high-level delegation in January 2008 to participate in the Auto 88 Expo. At the Expo, 23 Brazilian companies signed joint venture agreements with Indian firms. CII put together a high-level business delegation to accompany the President of India, Mrs Pratibha Patil, to Latin America in April 2008. During this visit to Brazil, Mexico and Chile, CII signed an MoU with FIRJAN (the Federation of States of Rio de Janeiro) to promote trade and investment between the State of Rio and the Indian States. In Mexico, CII and its partner, COMCE, signed a MoU for setting up a Joint Business Forum. In June, CII, in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, arranged a business interaction for visiting foreign affairs ministers from SICA (a grouping of countries in Central America). In September, CII led the first-ever business delegation to Manaus, Amazon, to participate in the Amazon International Trade Fair on the invitation of the Government of Amazon. The highlight of the visit was the new cooperation that emerged between CII and FUCAPI - the higher education arm of the Government of Amazon. Representatives from FUCAPI have since visited India at the invitation of CII for discussions for exchange programmes and resource sharing. CII International coordinated