Survival-tactics search begins at Confluence

The 11th edition of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s (IIMA) annual business summit, Confluence 2009, kicked off on Friday with a formal inaugural ceremony in which nearly 700 people took part. The event started off with the tradition of lighting lamp by dignitaries present on the occasion.

This year’s speakers representing the regulatory and policy-making bodies included Rajat Nag; managing director general of Asian Development Bank, Manila; CB Bhave, chairman of SEBI and Dr Shyamala Gopinath, dy governor of RBI. Among the many others that represented the industry were Shailesh Rao, MD of Google India and Preetha Reddy, MD of Apollo Hospitals. Paul Beckett, South Asia Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal and noted journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta were among the few journalists present on the occasion.

Prof Atanu Ghosh of IIMA introduced the guests and highlighted their contribution to creating wealth in public and private sectors. The event, consisting of three sessions, started on Friday with the first focusing on ‘Survival and Learning’. Day Two will dwell on the theme ‘Sustain: Steady the Keel’ while day three’s theme would be ‘Succeed: Ride the Wind’. Nag said, “Sustainability in a changing world questions whether the corporate motive of profit maximisation is short-sighted, and examines how this needs to be broadened.”

“The challenge is in creating a paradigm of growth driven by shared wealth, encompassing every member of society. The best multiplier effect is to be achieved by empowering the most marginalised,” he added.

“It is very important to understand the root cause of the resilience to ensure that in our haste we bring back the heady growth of the past years, there are no inadvertent distortions due to a myopic understanding of what actually works in our favour,” Nag said.

Samir Barua, IIMA director, briefed participants on the relationship between the real economy and financial markets. He said, “If a growing economy is a fast-spinning top, its axis is the financial market.” He explained that their co-existence and synchrony is essential for the healthy and sustained growth of the economy.

Mohit Gupta, a second year student of Indian School of Business, Bangalore, said, “The event will provide a platform where the pressing issues facing India and the world are explored and discussed. A number of events and sessions will help participants gain insight into the lessons from the crisis and the opportunities emerging from the rubble.”

“Much has been talked about recession, its causes and after effects. But we decided to take it a step forward. This programme will help us get innovative ways and a study of world’s emerging economies,” said Neha Pathak, a third year student of Symbiosis University.