Policymakers, India Inc, Bollywood to participate in World Economic Forum event

NEW DELHI: Key government figures including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, industry captains and Bollywood celebrities are scheduled to participate in the 3-day World Economic Summit starting tomorrow.

More than 650 leaders from 35 countries are taking part in the the event organised by World Economic Forum (WEF) in partnership with CII.

The summit, with 'Creating Indian Narratives on Global Challenges' as its theme, will help global business community learn first-hand about India's reform programme from key members of the Cabinet WEF said in a statement.

WEF COO Sarita Nayyar said the summit will address "many global challenges including issues where India has been active on the global stage including trade, climate change, economic growth and the fourth industrial revolution".

Besides Jaitley, Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Suresh Prabhu, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Nitin Gadkari are scheduled to participate in the summit.

Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Bharti Mittal, CMD of Spice Jet India Ajay Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Joint Managing Director of Welspun India Dipali Goenka, Chairman of Godrej Group Adi Godrej, Chairman of Hero MotoCorp India Pawan Munjal, and Director Essar India Prashant Ruia are among the top industrialists who would share their perspectives at the Summit.

Bollywood star Deepika Padukone will participate in a session on 'tackling the stigma surrounding mental health', while Karan Johar will be in conversation with Information and Broadcasting Minister Irani on 'changing mental modules within the media and entertainment industry'.

Founder of Isha Foundation Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will debate on 'how can India transcend its fragmented diversity and become a truly pluralistic society'.

Besides there will be sessions on Yoga, Ayurveda, safer roads, manufacturing and virtual reality.

On day-one, there will also be an open forum at IIT Delhi on 'My India@2022' where Irani, Jayant Sinha and founder and co-chair of Jubilant Bhartia Group Hari S Bhartia are expected to participate.