IFT Holds Trade Winds 2013 Eminent Speakers Deliberate on Economic Issues

Continuing with its Golden Jubilee celebrations, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade here organised ‘Trade Winds 2013: Annual Business Summit’ from August 27-30, 2013. Delivering the inaugural address Dr. Surajit Mitra, Director, IIFT said that “the Summit endeavours to prepare a stage where ideas are thrown into the open for debate and discussion, where views are exchanged and participants draw key business insights from the minds of the decision makers themselves". He said that the outcomes of these deliberations “are used for the policy making by the Government and other non-government bodies.”

The event began on 27th August with the Leadership Summit where the speakers spoke about the role of strategy in bringing about transformation. It was followed by the Finance Summit on 28th August which was inaugurated by a distinguished panel comprising of Mr. Saumitra Chaudhuri, Member, Planning Commission and Mr. Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, State Bank of India. Mr. Pratip Chaudhuri spoke on “the importance of keeping NPAs low for the banks and keeping debts healthy.” He was also of the opinion that the current downturn was not nearing the end but was in the middle phase. SBI Chairman further said that debt was inevitable for growth and criticised the Indian perception of viewing debt on the books of a company as a negative thing. He further added that while equity was a better tool in High Risk High Return businesses, “debt was a better tool for companies operating with low risks.”

The Marketing Summit held on 29th August focused on the rising power of the consumer and showcased the strength of the idea of brand evolution. The discussions were very contemporary and dealt with the prevailing market situations. Executive Director in International Marketing from Maruti Suzuki, Category Director of Marketing at Coca Cola India, Sales Director of the Kellogg Company India and Director of JWT addressed the students on the need for brands to evolve and provide better value to the consumers. They also spoke about how traditional marketing approaches are drastically changing with rapid changes in technology.

The Operations Summit held on 30th August concluded ‘Trade Winds 2013’ with a discussion on the future perspective of challenges and opportunities in maintaining a sustainable supply chain. Distinguished speakers from GMR group, Akzo Nobel, Johnson and Johnson Medical as well as Dr. Reddy’s Lab and jabong.com graced the occasion. They stressed on energy efficiency and greener supply chain for effective growth and also emphasised on creating a highly integrated supply chain to maintain market leadership and competitiveness in emerging markets. The discussion also revolved around how redesigning the supply chain could be effective in increasing competition. The day ended with a panel discussion on ‘Moving towards an Energy Efficient and Greener Supply Chain for Sustainable Growth’.