Inaugural Session
The Guest-of-Honour for the inaugural session will be Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister. Sri Lanka is the pivotal point for a global grand strategy of major powers like the United States, China and India. The centrality of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean is also imperative for its growth and investments. Sri Lanka lies only few nautical miles away from the East-West shipping route which enjoys immense ship traffic. An estimated 60,000 ships pass every year, carrying two-thirds of the world's oil and half of all container shipments. Sri Lanka's geography gives it an advantage disproportionate to its size. Mr Wickremesinghe will discuss Sri Lanka’s growth model, investment priorities and share his aspirations on partnerships with Singapore and South Asia to fulfil Sri Lanka’s “Wonder of Asia” vision. The Prime Minister will also share the challenges which Sri Lanka face in the pursuit of this vision, and consider how these challenges may require innovative regional solutions beyond the nation. Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam will also be gracing the occasion.
Investing in Indian Infrastructure
Helmed by Indian Ministers as principal speakers, the session will discuss the scope for diaspora and international investment into Indian infrastructure which is lagging behind its regional competitors. India needs US$ 454.83 billion to be spent on infrastructure development over the next five years, with 70 per cent of funds needed for power, roads and urban infrastructure segments. The Indian power sector itself has an investment potential of US$ 250 billion in the next 4-5 years, providing immense opportunities in power generation, distribution, transmission and equipment. The Indian construction equipment industry is reviving after a gap of four years and is expected to grow to US$ 5 billion by FY2019-20 from current size of US$ 2.8 billion. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received in construction development sector from April 2000 to December 2015 stood at US$ 24.18 billion, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mr Suresh Prabhu and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will discuss their investment priorities. This will lead to a panel discussion with representatives from the World Bank, ADB Institute, IFC, ICBC Bank, IDFC India and AIIB sharing their perspectives on how India can optimise on its investment-led growth strategy. The session will be chaired by Mr Vinod Rai, Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau and Visiting Senior Research Fellow, ISAS.
Regional Integration
South Asia’s vast geography means its neighbours include some of Asia’s most economically vibrant as well as politically sensitive regions, ranging from the Far East to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Individual state relations and perceptions of South Asia’s neighbours towards the region influence strategic dynamics significantly. The session will discuss the potential for the evolution of “One South Asia” as a contiguous continental economy. Mr Ali Akbar Velayati, Senior Adviser to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be the principal speaker for the session. The session will be followed by a group of distinguished panellists from China, Iran, Japan and Malaysia who will discuss the prospects for regional interaction and integration. The panel will discuss the twin problems of external politics impeding economic integration, and the domestic political ramifications of opening up markets to South Asian neighbours. The session will be chaired by Mr Girija Pande, Executive Chairman, Apex Avalon Consulting Pte Ltd; and Member, Management Board, Institute of South Asian Studies. He was the co-author of “The Silk Road Rediscovered: How Indian and Chinese Companies Are Becoming Globally Stronger by Winning in Each Other as Markets.”
Captains of Industry
This session runs parallel to the “Regional Integration” session. Global economic slowdown has brought various issues pertaining to national industrial developments into focus. This raises important questions on the resilience of industries to compete in challenging economic conditions and the ability to absorb new entrants. These experiences also call for the need for corporations to innovate in order to adapt to changing circumstances. Industry leaders at the panel will share their insights and experiences on how entrepreneurship can serve as a catalyst for change; especially for society. Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Mr Binod Chaudhary will be the principal speakers who will share their experiences on how the private sector, in collaboration with the South Asian diaspora can drive profound change in South Asia. The panel consists of renowned industry captains who will articulate their personal views on how business in South Asia need not be “business-as-usual”. The session will be chaired by Mr Piyush Gupta, CEO and Director of DBS Group.
Geopolitics of South Asia
South Asia’s geopolitics are in a state of flux. South Asia continues to search for almost elusive conditions of peace and stability with member states struggling to contain ethnic strife, religious radicalism and natural disasters. The rise of China is redrawing the entire neighbourhood and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is moving closer to Washington and shifting away from a foreign policy approach of balancing and hedging; instead favouring a global leadership role for India. In Sri Lanka, the presidential election pushed out a pro-China government for one much more inclined towards India. China’s rise has overshadowed, to a certain extent, long-standing antagonism between Delhi and Islamabad over Kashmir, but India-Pakistan relations remain tenuous. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, greater Chinese influence is perceived positively as an alternative to India. The search for peace is made even more difficult by the lack of trust among many member states, affecting the progress on institutional cooperation. The keynote speaker for the session is Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. Principal speakers include Mr Mangala Samaraweera, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka, Mr Kamal Thapa, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs in Nepal and Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State, US Department of State. Panellists from the region will discuss proposals and suggestions by the principal speakers on building a peaceful and stable South Asian region. The session will be chaired by Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury, Principal Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies and former Foreign Advisor (Minister), People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Law and Business in South Asia
Given the nature of globally integrated businesses, South Asian companies and countries are grappling with sophisticated mechanisms for dealing with international disputes through consensus. International commercial arbitration; being a consensual means of dispute resolution, has the binding effect only by virtue of complex framework of national and international laws. These include national arbitration laws, international conventions and institutional arbitrations. In the last two decades, there has been a tremendous explosion in the number of cases being settled through arbitration and similar mechanisms in South Asia. The session will highlight the lack of effective legal frameworks in some of these countries, which may affect the economic and commercial growth and investment of those states, and how suitable improvements may be made. Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Law. Dr Shirani Bandaranayake, 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and Mr Sachin Pilot, Member of the Indian National Congress and Former Minister of Corporate Affairs, India, are the principal speakers. The session will be followed by a panel discussion with renowned lawyers and practitioners in the field, moderated by Ms Lim Seok Hui, CEO of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC). The experiences from the cases dealt by SIAC and SIMC will be shared in this session.
Diaspora and Citizenship
The Diaspora and Citizenship Plenary will feature Dr BK Modi, Chairman of Smart Global Holdings Pte Ltd and Founder of Global Citizen Forum. The session will feature two recent works by South Asians. Dr Devesh Kapur from the Centre for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, USA will share the main insights on his book, “The Other One Percent: Indians in America”. Dr Didar Singh, Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will also be sharing his recent publication on “Politics of Migration: Indian Emigration in a Globalised World”. The session’s main focus will be issues regarding the South Asian diaspora communities and how citizenship is being redefined by trans-nationalist movements. There will also be a presentation by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on the engagement platforms and policies with regard to “Overseas Indians”. The session will be moderated by Prof Subrata Kumar Mitra, Director and Visiting Research Professor, ISAS.
Partnership in Education
While South Asia has made tremendous gains in expanding access to schooling over the past decade, poor quality education still needs to be addressed. According to the World Bank Report, nearly 13 million children aged 8 to 14 years in South Asia do not receive schooling, while the quality of education for those who do attend school is low and fails to equip students with adequate skills to join the workforce in the future. Education has emerged as a focal point for greater interface between South Asia and Southeast Asia. Can “skills education for all” yield demographic dividends for South Asia? Does university education matter? South Asian youths have found Singapore and several parts of Southeast Asia as sources of quality higher education. At the same time, institutional educational partnerships between South and Southeast Asia are flourishing. The panel will examine the trends and characteristics of evolving partnerships in their countries and learn from the lessons of the South Asian region. Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore will speak on the university’s role in economic and societal development. A distinguished panel of speakers from UK, India and Malaysia will deliberate these issues. The session will be chaired by Dr S Narayan, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, ISAS.
China-India Business Dialogue
Leading speakers from the China Business Forum held on 12 July will gather to have a dialogue with business leaders from India. The Dialogue will discuss potential for collaboration and cooperation in infrastructure, education, environment and the economy.
Entrepreneurship and Start-Ups
There is a broad consensus among stakeholders on the importance of encouraging start-ups across South Asia. Such ventures not only provide avenues for channelling the region’s creative entrepreneurial energy but also create new jobs and expand incomes. On January 16 2016, India launched her “Start-up India” initiative. This initiative aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of start-ups, with the objective of moulding a nation of job creators rather than job seekers. Incubators are also proliferating in Pakistan. This phenomenon is part of the global wave of shared office spaces, incubator programs, accelerators and university labs which cultivate entrepreneurship and innovation in hope of kick-starting their local tech ecosystems to become South Asia’s “Silicon Valley”. In Bangladesh, the “Connecting StartUps Bangladesh” initiative has gained ground with the government’s investment in Software Technology Parks across the country. In Sri Lanka, powerful angel networks have emerged. How is the start-up landscape in the region evolving and how will entrepreneurs transform South Asia into an innovation-driven economy? The session will be led by Mr Mohandas Pai Chairman, Aarin Capital Partners & Manipal Global Education India, followed by a distinguished panel of speakers from India, Singapore and New York. The session will be chaired by Mr Venugopal Gupta, a lecturer at INSEAD and CEO of “Business Parables”, India.
Book Launch & Reception
The convention will come to a close with an interesting talk by Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr Duvvuri Subbarao. Dr Subbarao will be presenting his memoir titled “Who Moved My Interest Rate?” and will be sharing his experience as a Governor during the tumultuous years of the global financial crises. The book will be launched by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority (MAS) of Singapore.
Gala Dinner on the evening of 18th July
The dinner is a special occasion to celebrate the achievements of the diaspora and to stimulate discussions on pertinent issues involving South Asia. The Guest-of-Honour for the occasion is the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong. He will be engaged in a conversation with Mr Shyam Saran, Chairman, Research and Information Systems (RIS), India on geo-political and geo-economic issues of the region. There will also be an award ceremony to confer the “Outstanding Member of the South Asian Diaspora” title to a renowned and distinguished personality from the diaspora.
South Asian Diaspora
South Asian Diaspora
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