First time a World Economic Forum India meeting will be held in South India- New format – a Community Retreat – introduced for this year’s meeting
- Cochin, commercial hub of Kerala, selected as venue for meeting on 8-9 November
Cochin, India, 24 June 2013 – Cochin, the commercial capital of Kerala, will host the World Economic Forum’s 29th India meeting on 8-9 November 2013. With the support of the state of Kerala, this will be the first time the meeting is held in South India.
The choice of the state of Kerala as host for this meeting reflects the Forum’s deeper engagement with India on both a regional and national level. In future, the Forum plans to alternate the venue for its annual India meeting between the capital New Delhi one year and an Indian regional state the other.
The format of the meeting in Cochin will be very different to previous years. The Community Retreat will be more intimate in style, with around 150 participants coming together in private sessions to explore how to improve the nexus between regional and national policy-making and policy implementation, with a view to optimizing India’s economic development. This meeting will bring together partners from state and national government, business, academia and civil society.
“It is a matter of great pride for Kerala to host such an international event, which will bring together 150 participants with a strong representation of CEOs from multinational corporations. This meeting aims at shaping the national economic agenda which will not only help demonstrate the economic dynamism driving growth in Kerala but also provide leaders with new opportunities that have the potential of delivering significant social and economic benefit to the country,” said Mr Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister, Kerala.
“India’s national elections in 2014 are the world’s largest democratic exercise. With our community of leaders from Indian industry, civil society and government, the objective of our meeting this year is to exchange on the priorities for the country following the national elections for India to maximize its full potential for inclusive growth,” said Sushant Palakurthi Rao, Senior Director, Head of Asia, World Economic Forum.
The Forum has recently held similar roundtable discussions in Moscow (October 2012), Baku (April 2013) and Japan (June 2013), establishing the success of this innovative format in engaging stakeholders. The new format for this year’s meeting in India provides an informal environment where participants can identify a clear roadmap for the Forum’s partnership with the Indian community and determine expectations for the government that will be elected in 2014. This year’s meeting has been designed to include Media Leaders, who will play an active role in the private discussions.