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Connecting Duke University and India: The Duke India Business Forum 2009
April 30, 2009
by Karthik Meda
Karthik is a Development & Alumni Relations Fellow and a MBA Candidate for the Class of 2009.
Tectonic forces are reshaping the global economy today and one of those many forces is the effect emerging markets such as India are having on businesses. With one of the youngest and most entrepreneurial populations in the world, India is poised to become one the world's major economic hubs. Given India's immense potential and Fuqua's global initiative, Fuqua hosted the inaugural Duke India Business Forum on March 22, 2009. The forum's goals were to educate the student body at Duke about the Indian economy as well to build relationships between Duke and Indian businesses.
The forum was a rousing success, due in large part to a distinguished set of speakers, who attracted more than 300 attendees from across Duke, several professionals from Research Ttriangle Park, and students from Dartmouth, Michigan, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, and the University of Chicago, among others. In one keynote address, Mr. Parag Saigoankar, Regional Managing Director, Deloitte India, spoke about how multinational firms are leveraging India's large talent pool to grow their businesses. The other keynotes were delivered by Ms. Shikha Sharma, CEO of ICICI Prudential (India's largest private life insurance company); Mr. Deepak Advani, former Chief Marketing Officer, Lenovo; and Mr. Vish Mishra, Venture Director, Clearstone Ventures. Complete details about the forum can be found at: www.dukeibf.com .
Organizing the event with my other co-chairs, Vibhor Chhabra and Lily Chhatwal, has been one of the most memorable experiences I've had at Fuqua, because the forum was in many ways an "entrepreneurial venture" which had not been executed in the past at Duke. As in any new venture, it is because of a core group of people that the venture succeeds. In our case, the forum was made possible due to the constant support of Dean Blair Sheppard, an extra-ordinary conference team, our generous sponsors and several faculty and staff members. I hope to continue to support the forum as Fuqua alumnus and hope that our alumni community will help grow this event into a premier India-focused event in the U.S.