MaRS Puts India on Centre Stage

The MaRS Global Leadership Series kicked off this past June with a broad spectrum of community leaders gathering at the MaRS Centre to learn about India’s rise to prominence in global politics and business. The event featured the CEO of FedEx Canada, Raj Subramaniam, Kasi Rao of Kasi Rao Consulting, and the Honourable John Manley, Vice-Chair of MaRS.

Subramaniam, who grew up in India, used FedEx’s experience and the growth of their business to demonstrate the larger economic changes unfolding on the subcontinent. FedEx’s business between India and its neighbors, particularly China and Pakistan, is on the rise, as is shipping for the manufacturing sector. FedEx considers itself the “clipper ship of the computer age.” As such, trends in their business reveal underlying economic trends and show India’s expanding economic role. Rao, also a fellow at the Munk Centre for International Studies, spoke of India’s current economic growth and the geo-political forces that make India an influential global ‘swing power’. Rao focused on the factors that will make India impossible to ignore: a highly-educated, young population, the focus on innovation and commercialization, a close relationship with the United States, and its increasing trade with China.

John Manley moderated a lively question and answer session following the presentations.
Manley’s experience as Federal Minister for both Foreign Affairs and Industry informed his own views of India’s place in the world as he asked: “Haven’t we heard all this before [about India’s rise]? Why now?” Rao believes that two main changes make the time right for India — new wealth and buying power and the broad efforts within the country to encourage growth.

Questions from the audience addressed a spectrum of issues from how Canadian business people can take advantage of this new power, to political concerns about India’s quest for energy, its relationship with China, and the implications of the long-standing tensions with Pakistan.

For information on upcoming MaRS Global Leadership Series events, visit:
www.marsdd.com/globalleadership

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