Chanda Kochhar to co-chair WEF meet at Davos

ICICI Bank Managing and Director Chanda Kochhar has been chosen as one of the six global CEOs as Co-chair of the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos, Switzerland, beginning later this month.

As Co-chair, Kochhar, 49, will be in the company of Mitsubishi Corporation Chairman Yorihiko Kojima, Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke, DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman and President and CEO of China Ocean Shipping Group Company Wei Jiafu.

Sharing her thoughts about the Indian and global economy, Kochhar said, the growth of the Indian economy would continue to be driven by consumption demand by millions of aspiring young people and increasing investments.

"India is a very young nation and will continue to remain young for decades. What this means is that millions of workforce would be aspiring to consume and create demand. That is the consumption drive which is going to drive India's growth," Kochhar said.

Hundreds of billions of dollars of investment commitments that were made yesterday by industry for the state of Gujarat alone and are a testimony to Kochhar's comments.

Her views have been disseminated by Geneva-based WEF which organises the annual meeting of global CEOs, political and spiritual leaders, heads of governments and states from across the world.

This year's meeting is scheduled between January 26-30.

Over 100 member delegation comprising senior Cabinet ministers including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Road and Transport Minister Kamal Nath are expected to attend the WEF.

Besides, honchos like Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal and Bajaj Group Chief Rahul Bajaj would attend the event.

The honour of co-chairing the Davos event had gone in the past to Indian CEOs like Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and Sunil Bharti Mittal.

The theme of this year's meeting is 'Shared Norms for the New Reality', reflecting an interconnected world which is facing the threat of erosion of common values.

The Indian delegation is going with its own theme of inclusive growth to enable the have-nots of the country take advantage of the economic expansion.