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Focus on India at international meet

LONDON: Leading specialists from India will attend an international conference being organised here by the British Institute of Technology and E-Commerce to promote India as a hub for global investment.

The “World Hi-Tech Forum 2008: Focus India,” to be held on October 7 and 8, will explore issues relating to technological and business partnerships in the global age.

“The aim of the Forum is to concentrate on a different ‘focus country’ each year, with presentations from government and leading companies providing valuable high-level, shared learning. It will bring the global community together to facilitate technological and business partnerships,” said Dr. Muhammad Farmer, chair of the Forum.

He said India had been chosen as the focus of the inaugural conference because of its role in technological innovation and enterprise.

“The idea is to promote India as an investment hub and a centre for technology and manufacturing. India is investing heavily in technology creation as well as manufacturing and education. During the conference, we will hear from leading government figures about the plans for links between nations, and from top businesses about their strategy and successes. Senior representatives from both will share ‘best practice’ examples and processes. The emphasis will be on innovation and global partnering, with coverage of inward investment and export-related topics along with technology and business collaboration,” Dr. Farmer said.

Professor Terry Knibb, Co-Chair of the Forum, said: “A key consideration of the Forum is the rapidly changing balance of research, technology and manufacturing between developed and developing nations. It is no longer enough to develop a product and then look for ‘cheap manufacturing’ elsewhere. Developing nations have expertise in all stages of the process, and this must be harnessed efficiently.”

The Indian government will be represented by Minister of Communications and IT A. Raja, Labour and Employment Minister Oscar Fernandes and High Commissioner to the U.K. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, will speak on ‘The challenges of the electronic age’ in a session devoted to looking ‘Beyond the Internet.’

Other prominent participants include Professor Sundarajan Ramachandran, Vice-Chancellor of Madras University; Arun Aggarwal, Vice-President, Tata; and Saivta Singh, Director, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan.

In a message, President Pratibha Patil has welcomed the launch of the Forum.

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