PM·s ADDRESS AT THE INAUGURATION OF INDIA CORPORATEWEEK 2010-December14, 2010

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU GOVERNMENT OF INDIA****

PM·s ADDRESS AT THE INAUGURATION OF INDIA CORPORATEWEEK 2010

New Delhi, December14, 2010


The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, participated in theinaugural ceremony of India Corporate Week 2010 and released Investors· Education Website in Hindi and Eleven Regional Languages. Following is thetext of the Prime Minister·s address:´It gives me immense pleasure to participate in the inaugural function of India Corporate Week 2010. This is a commendable effort which bringstogether the government, the corporate sector and professionals to deliberateupon issues of great importance.The first India Corporate Week was celebrated last December on thetheme ´Corporate Sector and Inclusive Growthµ. I note with satisfaction thatthe Ministry of Corporate Affairs has taken many important initiatives in theyear that has since gone by. A particularly significant initiative addresses thecritical aspect of investor awareness through over 3200 investor educationprogrammes. I compliment my colleague, Shri Salman Khurshid, the Ministerof Corporate Affairs and his team for these efforts.The theme of this year·s India Corporate Week is ´SustainableBusinessµ. I am told that as part of its celebrations, over 400 programmes areplanned across the country, highlighting corporate governance, corporatesocial responsibility, and ethical business. There will be special focus on´corporate growth with enlightened regulationsµ and ´corporate sector andinclusive growthµ. These areas reflect the importance that our government andour society gives to making our growth processes inclusive and simultaneously encourage the spirit of adventure and enterprise.India has always been a nation of entrepreneurs. Today it is a nation of world class professionals as well. Indian companies are strategically increasingtheir presence overseas and their presence is being felt all over the world.Indeed we are witnessing the emergence of the Indian multi-national on theglobal corporate stage. The private sector now contributes significantly to allsectors of our economy, including infrastructure development, which untilrecently was an exclusive preserve of the public sector until a few years ago. Inrecent years, the private sector is also successfully engaged with thegovernment in PPP projects. India·scorporate sector is poised to become themain engine of growth for the Indian economy. The responsibility it carries is,therefore, truly enormous.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has a mandate to provide an enablingregulatory framework to facilitate the corporate sector to function productively and responsibly, and broadly in line with our national aspirations. I am happy that the Ministry has, in a short period initiated many projects to fulfil thismandate. The streamlining of corporate registration under the MCA21 e-governance scheme has increased convenience as well as added to the spirit of transparency for the investor and provided end-to-end services to the corporatesector. The Competition Commission is engaged in enhancing competition inthe market place. The updation of Company Law, the introduction of limitedliability partnerships under a new law, efforts to converge with InternationalFinancial Reporting Standards, and widespread investor education are allcreative and worthwhile initiatives. The Voluntary Guidelines issued by theMinistry on Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility haveevoked interest I have been told internationally. Let me also take this opportunity to reaffirm our Government'scommitment to providing an enabling environment conducive to the growth of the corporate sector in our country. We wish to provide a level playing field forprivate businesses, free from fear or favour. I am aware of the nervousness insome sections of the corporate sector arising out of the powers conferred uponGovernmental authorities to tap phones for protecting national security andpreventing tax evasion and money laundering. While these powers are neededin the world that we live in, they have to be exercised with utmost care andunder well defined rules, procedures and mechanisms so that they are notmisused. We must also look for solutions through technology to prevent accessof telephone conversation to systems outside the institutional framework of government. Legal mechanisms already exist and they are in place. They needto be strengthened for more effective enforcement. I am asking the CabinetSecretary to look into these issues and report back to the Cabinet within thenext one month.Businesses, by their very definition, need to be profitable. But themanner in which they use natural resources and the extent to which they aresensitive to the needs and aspirations of the common man is also critical totheir own long-term survival and growth. Sustainability of business thereforeincludes not merely economic sustainability in the narrow sense of the termbut social and environmental sustainability as well. Indeed, financial capitalneeds human, social and ecological capital to be viable in the long term senseof the term. Market activity that concentrates wealth without empowering thepoor and the deprived is also unacceptable ethically. I am sure our businessleaders are aware that business practices of some corporate houses haverecently come under intense public scrutiny for their perceived ethical deficit.I am happy that the corporate sector has responded positively to thechallenge of sustainability and some of the Indian models of integratingsustainability in core business processes are being showcased as the best in
the world. Many Indian companies have started reporting their actions forensuring sustainability. An increasing number of companies are today bringing out sustainability reports.There are very welcome signs of the Corporate sector·s increasingengagement with India·s hinterland economy, where the majority of our peoplelive. This has consolidated linkages between the rural and urban sectors of oureconomy, between agriculture and manufacturing, and between regions. Mostsignificantly, the bonds between large companies and small and mediumenterprises, cooperatives, and new entrepreneurs are growing. I understandmany companies are coming out with innovative business models that engagefarmers in rural India as entrepreneurs. All this strengthens our nationsefforts for making our growth more inclusive ² a growth that benefits all regionsand all sections of our society, particularly the poor and the under-privileged.I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some ways in which youcan ensure sustainability through your corporate strategies.First, increasing the employability of our population through effectiveskill development must be central to corporate strategy and not merely anafterthought resulting from difficulties in recruitment. This can also helpintegrate the weaker sections of our society into the mainstream economy evenas industry is assured of ready to go well trained personnel. While thegovernment has a vital role to play in the field of education and training, itcannot deliver alone. Corporate India has to be an active partner in our efforts.I am very happy that several corporate leaders have already recognized thevalue of capacity building and skill development and are working with theGovernment through ongoing schemes and the National Skill DevelopmentCorporation. Some industry associations have offered to partner in improvingour ITIs and developing skills of youth, particularly those who are poor andmarginalized. But such efforts have not reached a scale that could have avisible impact on production processes in our country.Second, resettlement and rehabilitation of project affected families andensuring that there is no adverse impact on livelihoods due to environmentaldegradation are major issues to be addressed by our corporate enterprises.Our growth processes must not suffer because of loss of confidence inindustrialization and development. We need policies and interventions thatwould minimize livelihood disruptions. Affected populations must see a stakefor themselves in transiting to alternative lifestyles. Long term benefits to themmust outweigh the immediate costs they may have to bear. Companies mustalso adopt environmentally friendly measures and avoid taking shortcuts thatadversely impact livelihoods and worsen the quality of living of the affectedlocal populace. We have many examples of success in the areas of management of waste, conservation of habitats and energy efficiency. Thesemust be adequately disseminated and encouraged.
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