Wharton India Economic Forum to be held both in U.S. and India

- ADVERTISEMENT -

PHILADELPHIA – Wharton India will be hosting the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) in both the United States and India this year, making it the first conference of its kind with a global reach.

WIEF is an annual conference focused on India’s development and was started more than 20 years ago by students at Wharton, the top ranked business school in the U.S.

The conference showcases India’s economic potential to the United States by bringing together influencers across industry lines and this year it plans to experiment with ideas to diversify governance and human capital, identify trends that will disrupt industry through innovation and discuss how to deliver impact to society.

The Wharton India Economic Forum will bring together Indian pioneers in policy, media, academia and industry, to discuss the most exciting opportunities and pressing issues.

The conference in Philadelphia will be held on Nov. 12 at the Jon M. Huntsman Hall and will feature the following speakers: Umang Dua, Co-Founder of Handy; Ron Somers, Founder and CEO of India First Group LLC; Pankaj Munjal, Chairman and MD of Hero Cycles; Shankar Narayanan, MD and Co-head of Carlyle Asia Growth Partners; Ankur Jain, Founder and Director of B9 Beverages/Bira; Sharad Sharma, Co-founder of iSPIRT Foundation; Pankaj Jain, Partner of 500 Startups; Sroota Vootukuru, VP of Business Development at Sling TV and several others.

The topics for this conference will include opportunities for multinationals, opportunities for investing in India and what does it mean to have India move towards digitization.

The conference in Mumbai will be held on Jan. 5, 2018 and will feature the following speakers: billionaire Ajay Piramal and Kishore Biyani, the Chairman of Piramal Group and Shriram Group, along with daughters Ashni and Avni Biyani.

“The Mumbai conference will also play host to Wharton’s annual startup challenge targeting the next generation of business leaders”, said Kushal Amin, organizer of the competition which promotes entrepreneurship in India by providing a global platform for startups working on innovative ideas targeted towards the Indian market.

They have received more than 500 applications this year and 50 semifinalists will be shortlisted with the top 10 finalists getting a chance to pitch at the main event and the top 20 will get to exhibit their startups at the main event.

Over the years, WIEF has always attracted top level speakers including President Abdul Kalam, Mukesh Ambani, George Soros and Karan Johar.