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| Mumbai attacks fail to derail foreign investors' schedule |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi Dec 04, 2008, 00:50 IST |
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India may have temporarily lost its charm of being a hot destination for foreign tourists in the wake of the recent terror attacks on Mumbai, but it still remains an important place for foreign investors by virtue of being a high-demand market.
The conferences and meetings being organised by industry bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) have not seen any cancellation so far. However, the CII is rescheduling four events that were to be organised in the Taj Mahal Hotel, which was attacked by terrorists last week.
In the short term, there has been no adverse affect, according to CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee. “Initially, it was thought that many foreign participants would pull out from upcoming conferences but it hasn’t really happened,” he said.
He cited an example of the just concluded CII-Isro international conference and expo on space commerce and technologies, which went ahead as planned on November 28 (immediately after the Mumbai attacks), with just two foreign participants backing out.
Likewise, none of the international conferences and meetings being organised by Ficci has got cancelled. Besides the Arab cultural event, which is on in full swing, at least two major international conferences, which include participation from top government officials, are on according to schedule. In fact, said Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra, one of the countries has confirmed its participation.
Another major exhibition-cum-seminar of a key infrastructure sector would be proceeding according to schedule and there has been not even a single cancellation from any foreign delegation as of now, Mitra said.
A venture catalyst firm focused on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is also hosting an international SME conference in New Delhi next week, which is likely to be attended by about 250 participants from both India and abroad. There would be at least 20 international speakers.
‘The Economist’ has rescheduled the ‘Our CEO Agenda India’ meetings to the third week of January. The meetings were supposed to take place in the first week of December in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Over 30 leading CEOs and decision makers in each city would be attending the meet.
Even ‘KPMG’s India goes global’ has been rescheduled for February from the first week of December. This conference would also see international participation from the US, the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
“People understand that terror is a global phenomenon and that there has to be an institutionalised administrative mechanism to deal with it,” said Banerjee and added that as long as there were business opportunities and demand, they would keep India going. “Where would they find 7.5 per cent growth with a democratic set-up,” Mitra said.
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