Bank of Baroda - India's International Bank. UK Operations

An informative and cultural evening at the London Press Club with the High Commissioner of India H E Shiv Shankar Mukherjee

INDIA – QUO VADIS? His Excellency Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, High Commissioner of India, addressed an audience of over a hundred people including front line journalists from both print and screen at the event sponsored by the Bank of Baroda and organised by the London Press Club on 18th November 2008. The event was well attended by leading media representatives from prominent British Media viz. The Times, The Economist and others. The High Commissioner's speech charted India's progress over the last few decades and expanded into how India is likely to develop over the next few.

His Excellency began his talk by quoting Mark Twain, who once said of India: "India is the cradle of the human race, the birth place of human speech, the mother of history, the grandfather of legend and the great grandmother of tradition, our most valuable and instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only...the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all of the rest of the world combined."

He said that the key to India's success is partly due to the low set up costs for manufacturing facilities, at 60% of the cost of a developed country. He said that India's impressive growth rates have been achieved with half the level of investment that we see in China. It was also said that unlike China, which relies on mass production, India's strength is high- technology, a highly skilled workforce and customised and lean manufacturing, which thrives on India's cost-effective workforce and growing consumer demand. It is partly for these reasons that global brands such as BMW, Honda, Toyota, Shell, Unilever and Hewlett Packard have been attracted to establish world class R&D centres in India.

The speech also referred to India's knowledgeable society. India boasts among the largest reserves of skilled English speaking manpower in the world. It has 50 million graduates and produces nearly half a million engineers every year.

His Excellency concluded with the words:

"Our global role will be defined by what we are in real terms, not the result of clever diplomacy but the result of hard work and of building a nation brick by brick, as the people of India have demonstrated that they are capable of. It is then that we will meet the real target of development set by the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, - to wipe every tear from every eye."

Following his speech, the High Commissioner took questions from the audience, ranging from India's current role in world affairs including potentially by 2035 being the world's 3rd largest economy which he described as "a motor for global economy".

The Bank of Baroda, sponsors of the event, have recently celebrated 100 years of banking in India. It has been present in the UK for 51 years, and was the one of the early Indian banks in the UK. The growing Indian economy is reflected in the success of Bank of Baroda in the UK and other foreign countries in recent years. With growing Indo-British economic ties and with the Indian economy on a high growth trajectory, Bank of Baroda is confident of seizing more emerging opportunities.

Chaired by David Selves, Deputy Chairman of the London Press Club, the gathering was also addressed by Mr S S Mundra, Chief Executive of Bank of Baroda's European Operations which has witnessed impressive growth since his appointment to London in January this year.

In his welcome speech, Mr Mundra thanked the British and Asian Media for their presence and attributed India's growing economic prowess to the rising IT and IT enabled services that has led to India being the electronic back-office of the world. Remarking on the ongoing financial turbulence worldwide, he added that India has by-and-large been spared of global financial contagion due to its strong banking regulations and close interface between regulation and financial supervision in respect of banks and financial institutions.

Bank of Baroda, sponsors of the event, have recently celebrated 100 years of banking in India. It has been present in the UK for 51 years. The growing Indian economy is reflected in the success of the Bank of Baroda in the UK and other foreign countries in recent years.

The evening concluded with a dance display by dancers from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and refreshments.