Over 300 Leaders Attend Virtual Horasis India Meeting To Discuss The Path Ahead For Country's Economy

The meeting was held virtually for the first time in 12 years, using a digital conferencing platform.

The meeting was held virtually for the first time in 12 years, using a digital conferencing platform.

Kreuzlingen, Switzerland: Horasis, an international think tank, announced its 2020 Horasis India Meeting, which was attended by influential Indian leaders, including Ministers of the Government of India, Chief Ministers of Indian States and some of the country’s best-known business executives.  The summit was co-hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and was held in an all-virtual format for the first time in its over 12-year history on 22 June 2020. At a critical moment when India and the rest of the world face the worst pandemic and resulting economic fallout in over a century, over 300 delegates from India and around the globe convened online to debate and develop solutions for dealing with the current crisis to help shape a durable and resilient economic system for India and the world’s, post-Covid-19 future. “Now is not the time to allow inward-looking policies to prevail,” said Frank-Jürgen Richter, Chairman of Horasis. “As India and the rest of the world battle the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, it is up to the engines of globalization to work together with international partners to collaborate on best practices to collectively combat this crisis. The Indian government is a good example of a nation working collaboratively to offer up their commercial, technological and scientific might in the international battle against the virus and its many ramifications.” "CII is proud to continue its association with the Horasis India Meeting during these uncertain times in its new digital avatar. It is even more important now than ever, for our government and business leaders to work together for India's future,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry. The online event gathered an international roster of prominent officials. Among the most eminent political leaders invited to attend were Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Minister V.K. Singh, Karnataka CM B. S. Yediyurappa, Armenian President H.E. Armen Sarkissian, Ajmal Ahmady, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Afghanistan; Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Minister and Special Advisor to the President of Niger; Diene Keita, Minister for International Cooperation and African Integration, Guinea. Other national and regional government representatives include Tomohiko Taniguchi, Special Adviser to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan; Subhash Desai, Minister for Industries, Maharashtra Government and Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Telangana Government; Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs, Punjab Government. Joining them were be a variety of CEOs and representatives of the world´s most respected corporations including Binod K. Chaudhary, President, Chaudhary Group, Nepal; Ashish Chauhan, Chief Executive Officer, Bombay Stock Exchange, India; Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder, Infosys and Chairman, Axilor Ventures, India; Hank McKinnell, Chairman, Moody's, USA; Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, India; R Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals, India; Preetha Reddy, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals, India and Deborah Wince-Smith, President, United States Council on Competitiveness, USA. Several prominent personalities from the Indian film industry were also invited, including Siddharth Roy Kapur, Roy Kapur Films, Poet, Lyricist and Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification Padmashree Prasoon Joshi, India, Film Director, Screenwriter, and Lyricist Nitesh Tiwari, Actor and Activist Rajshri Deshpande, Artist and Recording Producer Qaran Mehta, Media and Tech Entrepreneur Swaneent Singh. The Horasis India Meeting was introduced 12 years ago and it has become the foremost annual meeting of Indian business leaders and their global counterparts. In this meeting, businesses and governments discuss a wide range of issues related to the Indian economy. It has been held at various international venues over the years. WATCH | S Jaishankar meets Foreign Ministers of RIC via video conference