The India Post, Chandigarh, 9th February, 2009 : The 3rd CEO Forum was organized at the UT Guest House today to explore and discuss the viable opportunities for growth across all sectors of the Indian economy amidst the ongoing recession. The principal speaker at the event was Mr. Pradeep Udhas, MD, Greater Pacific Capital, and the topic for discussion was "Growth Across Sectors: Where will it come from?"
The event was organized by TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), a not-for-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals. The introductory address was made by Mr I S Paul, former President,TiE. He said that people in the region are not yet fully aware about the role of private equity firms.
Mr Udhas started the forum by calling the current financial crisis "the financial world war". He informed that 2.5 million jobs have been lost around the world and US$ 10 tn in liquidity and bailout has been announced.
While discussing the scenario in India and China, Mr Udhas said that although the corporates here are conservative, they too have been hit by the crisis. The reduction in the imports by the US has led to a dominos effect. On a positive note, he informed that the growth prospective is bright for companies with perceptible comparative advantage and alternative energy sources.
According to him, the sectors worst hit by this crisis in India are oil and gas, capital goods, metals, real estate and IT. He said that the key questions facing the world today are whether this is the end of investment banking, will there be more casualties and what will be the total cost of the crisis. He raised questions with regard to the Indian growth story as well.
Over 20 CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs from all over India participated in this two hour long interactive forum and discussed strategies for growth, new markets, scaling up, cash flow management and brand building across sectors.
Pradeep is Managing Director of Greater Pacific Capital, an Indo-China private equity firm, heading India operations. Greater Pacific Capital is a London based large private equity fund that looks to invest in India and China. Pradeep heads up and drives its investments in India. The Fund has made some 10 investments in various sectors like Financial Services, Pharma, IT/BPO, Industrials, Pharmacy chains, etc.