New Delhi, Nov. 14 : The World Economic Forum’s 24th India Economic Summit, held in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), will take place in New Delhi next week from November 16 to 18.

Nearly 700 participants from over 35 countries will work under the theme Securing India''s Future Growth.

The programme of the Summit, which consists of 27 public sessions, is designed to generate insight and improve the alignment of India’s development and industry priorities and, as such, is organized on four thematic pillars: Global Shifts; Managing Risks; Inclusive Growth; and Future Competitiveness. In addition, key initiatives such as the Global Health Initiative, Water, Disaster Resource Network, Global Growth Companies and Climate Change are integrated into the programme.

"This year''s Summit is very timely with respect to understanding the evolution of the global economic crisis and its future impact on India''s economic and political landscape," remarked W. Lee Howell, Senior Director, Head of Programming and Senior Adviser on Asia at the World Economic Forum.

"This will be the first time that key stakeholders of the Indian economy will meet following the G20 Summit in Washington," added Howell.

"We believe that the fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong and the Indian economy and industry will be able to weather the current financial storm in a much better way than many others. Our aspiration is to see India as an economically strong, technologically vital and innovative, socially and ethically vibrant global leader," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India.

Key public figures from India include: Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek S. Ahluwalia, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal; Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Shriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs; Ajay Shankar, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Members of Parliament include N. K. Singh, D. Raja, Amar Singh, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Deepender Singh Hooda, Naveen Jindal and Rahul Bajaj. Also participating are the Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana.

The distinguished business leaders who will act as Co-Chairs of the Summit are: Jeffrey Joerres, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Manpower, USA; James H. Quigley, Global Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte, USA; B. Ramalinga Raju, Founder and Chairman, Satyam Computer Services, India; and Henri A. Termeer, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Genzyme Corporation, USA.

The Summit is supported by the following Strategic Partners: Accenture, American International Group (AIG), Apax Partners, Audi, Avaya, Bahrain Economic Development Board, Basic Element, Bombardier, Booz and Company, BT, CA, Cisco Systems, Clifford Chance, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post World Net, FedEx, Forbes, KPMG, McKinsey and Company, Manpower, Merrill Lynch, METRO Group, Morgan Stanley, Nike, The Olayan Group, PepsiCo, Reliance Industries, Satyam Computer Services, Travelport, UBS and Volkswagen.

NDTV will be the host broadcaster of the event. (ANI)