ABOUT
About the conference
The Wharton School is pleased to invite you to the 14th Annual Wharton India Economic Forum. The theme for this year’s conference is “India: Breaking Boundaries” and the focus will be on bringing together prominent personalities and thought leaders to discuss how India continues to position itself to compete and succeed in the rapidly changing global environment. This event is a leading business forum for thought-leaders, professionals, alumni, faculty and students to discuss the unprecedented opportunities that lie in India's way and the challenges that need to be addressed to realize these opportunities.
An impressive history
Since its inception 14 years ago, the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) has been, and continues to be, the leading business forum focused on India in the United States. WIEF was launched in 1996 at the Wharton School with a mission to engage the world’s attention on India’s enormous potential and the limitless possibilities the country offers. India’s evolution as both an emerging economic power and as an increasingly important contributor to the global community has helped the conference broaden its perspectives. Since the first forum, WIEF has stimulated energetic dialogue between current and future leaders from various walks of economic, social and political life, and has been covered by over thirty leading global newspapers and magazines. Most recently, in March 2009, WIEF attracted over 800 attendees, including prominent business figures, policy makers, professionals and students, to debate pertinent issues relevant to the Indian economy; under the expansive theme “India: The Road Ahead”.
An even brighter future
As we look ahead, we aim to continue and build on the forum’s impressive history and the past successes we have had, and hope to further our outreach and broaden our examination of issues. Past forums have duly focused on how to mobilize and prepare India, as a nation, to define and deliver on its incredible potential and the expectations that come with it. We now take the debate a step further and go beyond the ordinary to explore new frontiers for India as it establishes itself firmly on the world stage. Our conference theme this year is “Breaking Boundaries”, and it is in this originative and inspired mood that we wish to examine what lies in store for India. We aspire to be a forum for discussing not only India’s economic prospects in the world, but also how it can be a politically active and socially responsible power. Given the current state of world affairs, it is essential that India be prepared to go beyond the ordinary and truly actualize itself as a country, in terms of its immense resources, human and material, as well as everything else it has at its disposal. Our aim, going forward, is to be thought leaders and foster creative dialogue on how this might be possible, what indeed India is capable of and how it, as a country, can transcend expectations and realize its true place in the world.