The Growth Net

	08:00 – Onwards Shah Jehan	Participants registration
	10:30-11:30 Durbar	Opening plenary session *Leading global growth in 2018…And beyond?* Key emerging countries are today recording growth forecasts or levels that make them a driver of global growth for this year and presumably beyond. Policies in China, India, Indonesia or Brazil, to mention just some examples, have been geared towards creating the conditions for sustainable growth rates that will remain double or triple the ones of developed economies. The entrepreneurial spirit, the faster adoption of new technologies and the development of startup ecosystems and the cleaning up of the banking and financial sectors in India and China should also help sustain the growth momentum. What more is needed from governments and corporations so that key emerging countries keep assuming the global growth driver role? Inaugural Address: Piyush Goyal, Minister of Finance, Railways and Coal, Government of India Chair: Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Steering Committee, The Growth Net Summit and Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group, India Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd & Chairman, Ananta Centre, India Claude Smadja, Founder & Chairman, Smadja & Smadja, Switzerland
	11:30-12:45 Durbar	Plenary Session A case of do or die: Corporations stepping in to bridge the skills gap With the speed at which technological changes happen and the human resources needs of corporations evolve, education systems struggle to deliver in time. So, corporations have to step in to close the gap – especially in most emerging countries who structurally have to contend with a perennial skills and talent deficit. As the economic model of these countries shifts away from over-reliance on cheap labor to fuel export-driven economies, they have to rapidly move up the value chain – or risk faltering. Corporations have no other option than to invest strategically in workforce development. But corporations may also have to help address the skills gaps in their suppliers which are the cause of costly delays and damaging quality issues. What specific, concerted, actions between business, government and universities can help promote a permanent improvement and updating of skills and identify the forthcoming needs? How can corporations leverage online education in data science and computer programming for workforce enhancement? How can corporations develop an attractive talent value propositions to retain skills in a talent-scarce environment? What kind of PPPs would be most effective at broadening access to highquality education? What are the success stories to learn from? Keynote Address by: Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India Speakers: Lourdes Casanova, Senior Lecturer and Director Emerging Markets Institute, S.C. Johnson School of Management, Cornell University, USA Masahiro Fukuhara, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Institution for a Global Society (IGS), Japan S Ramadorai, Former Vice-Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, India and Former Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation, India Moderator: Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman, Steering Committee, The Growth Net Summit and Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group, India
	12:45 – 14:15 Durbar	Plenary Luncheon (hosted by Ambuja Housing and Urban Infrastructure Company Limited) *A world with a different America* There is no counting the many disruptions that President Trump has created on the global economic and geopolitical scene, upending many of the conventional wisdoms that had so far shaped the forecasts or analysis of policy makers or observers. For instance, on many issues today, whether it is climate change, the Iran nuclear deal or trade sanctions, Europe find itself closer to the positions of Putin’s Russia or China than to the ones of its US traditional ally. What is the pattern in Donald Trump’s decision-making? Is he as unpredictable as many observers consider him to be? What kind of geopolitical repercussions can we expect to emerge or develop from the Trump administration decisions on the geopolitical or macroeconomic fronts? As we get into a new era of great powers competition, what does that mean for the rest of the world? Welcome remarks by: Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Steering Committee, The Growth Net Summit and Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group, India Speakers: James Carafano, Vice President, The Davis Institute for Foreign Policy & National Security, The Heritage Foundation, USA Woosuk Kenneth Choi, Executive Editor Future Planning Department, The Chocun Ilbo Group, Republic of Korea Torkel Patterson, Director, Central Japan Railway Company, former Special Assistant for Asian Affairs to President G.W. Bush, USA Mahendra Siregar, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia Moderator: Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times & Distinguished Fellow & Head, Strategic Affairs, Ananta Aspen Centre, India
	14:15-15:30 Durbar	Plenary Session *What is changing with international trade? What does this mean for the future of global growth and for emerging markets companies?* The international trade system is under attack. Many developments, not only in the US but also in Europe, have highlighted a trend of growing skepticism about the merits and benefits of the trade systems as it has functioned so far. The Trump administration is openly critical about the efficacy and relevance of the WTO dispute settlement system, while the US and Europe are increasingly critical and frustrated about China’s trade practices. The rationale of FTAs as a tool for increasing trade interaction between two or a group of countries does not seem to be sufficient anymore to rally support for these agreements. The protectionist rhetoric which has been flourishing, the growing trade and economic tensions between the US, the EU and China, linked to rise in global geopolitical tensions make the risk of trade restrictive actions by the major players very real. What do these changes mean for emerging market companies which – so far – have mostly benefited from international trade? Is the attack on the trade system reflecting just transitory causes or is this a structural change of the international trade scene? What can emerging countries and companies do to protect their interests in this new context? Keynote Address by: Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of India Speakers: Yasushi Akahoshi, President, Japan External Trade Organisation, Japan Dan Catarivas, Director General, Foreign Trade & International Relations, Manufacturers’ Association of Israel, Israel Shishir Priyadarshi, Director, World Trade Organisation, Geneva David Rasquinha, Managing Director, EXIM Bank of India Moderator: Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, India
	15:45-16:45 Mumtaz	Parallel Session *The mobile economy as a business and economic game-changer: Setting up the success factors* The smart phone revolution is proving to be a game changer for business and a huge leapfrogging factor for emerging market economies. While China is the number one uncontested leader in that domain, countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines or Mexico are also fast leveraging the potential opened by the mobile economy as the smartphone market keeps expanding. This mobile economy is boosting domestic consumption, stimulating technological innovation, creating new business activities, and is helping to integrate ever larger segments of the populations in economic activity. What is required to develop the potential of the smartphone for the expansion of e-commerce and digital payments What kind of investments are needed to accelerate the penetration rates of mobile and fixed broadband to integrate more of the non-urban population in the mobile economy? How to define the key priorities of sound digital economy policies and regulations? Speakers: Soumitra Dutta, Professor of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, USA Avinav Trigunait, Director, APAC Practice Lead – Future of Work, ARVR & Mobility at Innovation Accelerators Practice, IDC, Singapore Jason Wang, Vice President for emerging market & Managing Director, India Shareit, People’s Republic of China Moderator: Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Jetline Group of Companies, India & USA, India
	15:45-16:45 Jehangir	Parallel Session *Let there be startups nations* It is now recognized that a dynamic ecosystem for startups is a potent contributor to economic growth and to technological innovation and development. Emerging countries such as China, India, Indonesia or Mexico are today just beginning to reap the full benefits from a fast expanding start-ups sector – not speaking of the example provided by Israel as a “start-up nation”. Entrepreneurship spirit and high-growth start-ups develop best when networks of knowledge and talent, VC and PE, mentors and partners combine their impact in a propitious context created by the “right” government policies. What makes entrepreneurial ecosystems “tick”? How to intensify the creative potential of entrepreneurial/technology clusters? What government policies are the most effective in supporting a country’s start-ups drive? What lessons to be derived from success stories? Speakers: CY Ahn, Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Chung-Ang University, South Korea Srikumar Misra, Founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Milk Mantra, India Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education, India Pankaj Sharma, Co-Founder and CTO of Whizpace, Singapore Moderator: Woosuk Kenneth Choi, Executive Editor Future Planning Department, The Chocun Ilbo Group, Republic of Korea
	16:45 – 17:15 Shah Jehan	Tea break
	17:15-18:30 Durbar	Plenary Session *The potential of smart cities: Maximizing their impact as growth drivers and environment-savior* Developing smart cities – or “wired”, “networked” or “ubiquitous” cities – in emerging economies is proving not only to be a way to manage the urbanization drive in this group of countries – starting with China and India – but is also creating new growth opportunities and spurring technological developments. The use of advanced digital technology, IOT and networks to provide solutions, deliver services and address the economic, social, and environmental challenges linked to urbanization is creating a new ecosystem propitious to enhancing greater business efficiency and productivity and to promoting the emergence of new activities and businesses. While, according to official figures 500 Chinese cities are already in the process of transforming themselves into smart cities, the Mody government in India has launched its “Smart City Mission” to build 100 smart cities and industrial corridors throughout the country by 2020 What is needed to best leverage the business and technology leap-frogging potential of smart-cities? What are the challenges to be addressed to create successful smart cities? What are the most effective solutions for smart cities that government and business collaboration, effective PPPs, can promote? Opening Address: Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development, Singapore Keynote Address: Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India Moderator: Manisha Natarajan, Group Editor, Real Estate & Urban Development, Network 18, India
	18:30-19:45 Durbar	Plenary Session *Assessing China’s economic policies and their implications* The 19th Congress of China’s Communist Party did not only cement and strengthen the power of President Xi Jinping as a leader now without term limitation and on equal footing with Mao Zedong. It also confirmed and expanded China’s key economic and foreign policy orientations. The official endorsement of “The Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” means that the Party will keep a tight control of China’s economic course and the continuation of the prominent role of SOEs in the country’s economy. This goes with the forceful promotion of national champions in the commanding heights of the 21st century economy with the implementation of the “Made in China 2025” program , and the confirmation of a more assertive foreign policy and of strategic initiatives aimed at affirming China’s standing as an equal player to the US on the world scene. How could China’s drive for prominence in some ley sectors of the 21st century economy impact the global economy and the economic policies of key players among developed and emerging economies? What is to be expected from Xi Jinping’s vision of China’s role on the world stage? Speakers: Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of History, Harvard University & Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, India Zhiwu Chen, Victor and William Fung Professor in Economics and Director of Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong; and former Professor of Finance at Yale University Wang Haifeng, Director, Department of Trade & Investment Research, Institute of Foreign Economics, National Development and Reform Commission, People’s Republic of China Krishna Palepu, Professor, Harvard Business School, USA Moderator: Lt General S L Narasimhan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd), Member, National Security Advisory Board & DG, Centre for Contemporary China Studies, India
	19:45 – 21:30 Shah Jehan	Official Opening Dinner (Hosted by Godrej)

	09:45-10:45 Durbar	Plenary Session *The five factors to watch for in a rather rosy global economic outlook* Listening to some analysts we are back to the era of the “Goldilocks economy”, with all the key regions of the world enjoying moderate but sustainable growth and the global economy expected as a whole to grow by 3.9% in 2018 and again in 2019 according to the IMF forecast, “with emerging market and developing economies playing a relatively bigger role than in 2017” in this performance. However, some factors could cloud this overall picture. How to assess the potential for economic volatility – or even disruptions – that could be created by: Protectionist policies and the unsettling of the international trade system; the proliferation of political risks in some countries with the strength of populist forces; the geopolitical risk created by tensions and confictual situations in the Middle East, Europe, the South China see, the Korean peninsula etc.; the trend towards a general tightening of monetary policies coupled with soaring debt levels raising questions about the ability of some countries and important corporations to sustain higher costs of capital; the low level of productivity gains in developed as well as in emerging economies that could threaten medium-term growth sustainability. Speakers: B J Panda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, India Jin Park, Executive President, Asia Future Institute, Chair Professor, Hankook University of Foreign Studies, South Korea Abheek Singhi, Senior Partner and Director Asia, The Boston Consultancy Group, India Claude Smadja, Founder & Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland Moderator: Tarun Das, Chairman, Institute of Economic Growth, India
	10:45 – 11:15 Shah Jehan	Tea break
	11:15-11:45 Jehangir	Tomorrow Now *How Virtual and Augmented reality will impact business* Virtual reality was first seen as an entertainment technology but businesses are now fast exploring and developing the opportunities created by the ability to simulate in virtual reality processes in production, marketing or customer services until now carried out in the physical world; Another promising prospect is how VR would also allow people undertake some tasks without being physically present. What is the transformative impact of Virtual and Augmented Reality? What are the issues to be addressed for the technology to deploy its full benefits? Speaker: Sai Krishna V K, Founder, Scapic, India Moderator: Yaël Smadja, Chief Executive Officer, Smadja & Smadja USA
	11:15-11:45 Mumtaz	Tomorrow Now Beyond bitcoins, the impact of blockchain technology Whether or not bitcoins and other virtual currencies will take a prominent role, the potentialities of blockchain technology as an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions in a verifiable and permanent way and be programmed to trigger transactions automatically, might prove to be the most important game-changing factor. The ability to embed in digital code and protecting from deletion, tampering, and revision every transaction, agreement, process, payment, would revolutionize not only business but also many aspects of social and individual life. How far are we from this revolution? What are the governance, social and technological barriers still to be addressed? Speaker: Florin Adrian Oprea, Founder & Editor-in-chief, Blockchain Daily News; Senior Consultant, Blockchain (Asia) Ltd; Founder & Editor-in-chief, FinTech Daily News, Romania Moderator: Claude Smadja, Founder and Chairman, Smadja & Smadja, Switzerland
	12:00-13:15 Durbar	Plenary Session Leveraging Fintech as a game-changer for financial servicesand for financial inclusion Fintech – Mobile payments, digital wallets, and other forms of financial technology – is providing emerging markets with a unique opportunity for technology leap-frogging and skipping a whole phase of development of financial services, helping to integrate hundreds of millions of people into the banking and financial systems. While China was the first emerging country to embark in a spectacular adoption of fintech technologies, even stealing a march from the US and Europe, other emerging countries such as India, Indonesia or Mexico are moving fast to leverage the potential of fintech and mobile finance as growth driver and a vector of social and economic inclusion. What are the key prerequisites for a fast development and wide penetration of fintech? How can fintech be an accelerator of growth and of economic and social inclusion? Speakers: Parvaiz Husain, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Healthfin, India Raman Kumar, Founder & Chairman, CASHe, India Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore Ganesh Mohan, Group Head of Strategy, Bajaj Finserv Group Moderator: Florin Adrian Oprea, Founder & Editor-in-chief, Blockchain Daily News; Senior Consultant, Blockchain (Asia) Ltd; Founder & Editor-in-chief, FinTech Daily News, Romania
	13:15 – 14:45 Durbar	Plenary Luncheon(Hosted by Ministry of Finance, Government of India) *Managing fiscal policies and developing financial markets for sustaining the growth momentum in emerging markets* Keynote Speaker: Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India Chair: Uday Kotak, President Designate, Confederation of Indian Industry and Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, India
	14:45-16:00 Durbar	Plenary Session *India: Staying in the race for innovation-driven growth in the 21st century economy* In 2017 India ranked 100 among the 190 countries in the World Bank “Ease of doing business ranking”, jumping 30 places from the previous year. It was also ranked the fifth best-performing country with respect to reforming the business environment. As positive as these developments are, they will not suffice to ensure India a privileged place among the top league of sustainable high growth countries. The crucial – differentiating – factor that India will need to leverage is to spread a culture of innovation that would materialize not only in the technological domain but also in areas such as business models, corporate and political governance. What will make initiatives such as “Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Startup India” become the vectors of a new phase of innovation-driven growth in India? How should government, academia and business complement their efforts to promote and spread a culture of innovation? Keynote Address by: Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Government of India Speakers: C Y Ahn, Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Chung-Ang University, South Korea Ashok Bajpai, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals, India Avnish Sabharwal, Managing Director, Accenture Solutions Pvt Ltd, India Ralph Voltmer, Partner, Head of India Practice, Covington & Burling, USA Moderator: Naushad Forbes, Co-Chairman, Forbes Marshall, India
	16:00 – 16:30 Shah Jehan	Tea break
	16:30-17:45 Durbar	Plenary Session *Being part of the high stakes battle for data AI* It has now become a platitude that data is for the 21st century economy what oil was for the 20th century economy and, indeed, big data is the crucial component in most of the technologies – Artificial Intelligence, IOT, Advanced Robotics – needed to be a player in the 21st century economy. Who will be able to collect most efficiently the data, who could claim ownership on it, who will be able to leverage it for further technological advantage, how it will be protected and how to monetize it etc. The battle lines are already being drawn between the US, China and Europe. And the outcome of this competition wil be crucial to define the competitive strength of countries and corporations in their ability to leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence. But leveraging AI means also managing the way robots and humans will be able to complement one another in production processes, ensuring that jobs destroyed by robotization will be replaced by new jobs. Where do some major Emerging Economies stand on developing Big Data as an asset? How will they be able to protect their interests and their competitiveness when it comes to leveraging Big Data for the new technologies such as AI, Advanced Robotics, IOT, etc? What national policies and regulatory measures are needed to ensure the protection of data as a national asset? How can governments, academia and business work together to ensure that the skills and technological capabilities are there to leverage Data power and that leveraging AI does not impede the kind of jobs creation needed to absorb the huge amount of entrants into the workforce? Speakers: Manoj Chugh, President – Enterprise Business, Member of the Mahindra Group Executive Board, India Victoria Espinel, President & Chief Executive Officer, BSA \| The Software Alliance, USA Arvind Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, MyGov, Government of India Ruth Kattumuri, Co-Director LSE India Observatory and Fellow, Academy of Social Science, the UK Lisa Peets, Partner, Lead of the Technology & Media Practice, Covington & Burling, USA Moderator: Yaël Smadja, Chief Executive Officer, Smadja & Smadja USA
	17:45-19:00 Durbar	Closing Plenary *What we need to take home* Highligting and enhancing somekey outcomes and concusions that have emerged from the discussions at this 6th Growth Net Summit, such as: How, despite some uncertainties, a very volatile geopolitical context and the high potential for economic and trade tensions, can Emerging Economies best leverage a more positive economic context to accelerate and consolidate growth How could they channel improvement in the investment climate towards jobs creation? How to ensure that they stay in the race in a context of disruptive technologies reshaping business and industrial operating models and redrawing the globalmanufacturing map Speakers: Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd & Chairman, Ananta Centre, India Harsahvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Steering Committee, The Growth Net Summit and Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group, India Ralph Voltmer, Partner, Head of India Pratice, Covington & Burling, USA Chair: Claude Smadja, Founder and Chairman, Smadja & Smadja, Switzerland
	19:00 – 19:30 Shah Jehan	Cocktails
	19:30 – 21:00 Durbar	Closing Dinner (Hosted by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd) Doing business in a volatile world A Conversation between: S Jaishnkar, Former Foreign Secretary, Minister of Finance, Government of India & Tarun Das, Founding Trustee, Ananta Centre and Chairman, Institute of Economic Growth, India