Ls Dissolution Not To Affect India Economic Summit

The dissolution of the Lok Sabha will have no adverse impact on the 1997 India Economic Summit being organised in New Delhi during December 7-9, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president N Kumar and World Economic Forum (WEF) director Colette Mathur emphasised at a press conference yesterday.

The summit is being organised jointly by WEF, Geneva, and CII.

They corroborated their stand by citing that Prime Minister I K Gujral, finance minister P Chidambaram, industry minister Murasoli Maran and other government functionaries scheduled to address the summit had made no change in the programme.

The summit will have over 400 participants from 40 countries, making it the biggest summit so far.

It will be co-chaired by Bajaj Auto Ltd chairman & managing director Rahul Bajaj, WEF president Klaus Schwab and Percy Barnevik, chairman of Investor AB of Sweden. The participants will include international and national business leaders and senior government officials.

The European contingent is particularly strong, with a large number of delegates coming from France, Germany and Switzerland. However, there are no participants from Africa.

Two unique meetings are being held on the opening day. The first will draw participants from 50 mid sized companies that are seen by WEF as future multinationals and job creators. WEF director Colette Mathur said at a press conference yesterday that all the members of the Forum were large companies and the focus was being shifted to the middle ones with an eye on the future.

The other meeting will feature as many as 30 people under the age of 42 who have achieved excellence in various fields. According to Mathur, these are the people who should be screaming to change things, especially with regard to environment, education, AIDS etc.

The summit opens with a briefing by WEF managing director Claude Smadja. The speaker of the just-dissolved Lok Sabha, P A Sangma, and Schwab will speak on democracy for economic development at the opening dinner on December 7.

Prime Minister I K Gujral will address a special plenary session on December 8.

On the morning of December 9, finance minister P Chidambaram will address a plenary on Indias Asianisation: A vision for fast growth and progress The summit will also be addressed by industry minister Murasoli Maran, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Goa Chief Minister Pratap Singh Rane and Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh.