Second Houston India Conference Spotlights Country’s Place on the Global Stage
HOUSTON, March 14, 2018 – On March 8, Asia Society Texas Center hosted the second Houston India Conference, which convened leaders in diplomacy, industry, journalism, social initiatives, and trade for an open forum on the future of the globe’s second-most populous country. The conference was a partnership between Asia Society Texas Center, the Consulate General of India in Houston, and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, among several other strong representatives from Houston’s and Texas’ business community. Cambridge Education Development, Expedien, and McDermott served as the conference sponsors.
The day-long event included three panels addressing the most salient issues facing India. The opening session focused on investment and the ease of doing business in India, featuring Sandip Sen, Global CEO and Executive Director of Aegis Limited; Vikram Singh Mehta, Executive Chairman of Brookings India; and Aparna Subramani from The World Bank. Sunanda Vashisht of MyIndMakers served as a moderator for this panel and all concurrent panels throughout the day. The panelists were bullish on India’s potential for foreign direct investment, while also acknowledging areas in which India needs to improve, such as ongoing bureaucratic hurdles, high corporate taxation, and slow privatization of major industries.
The second session looked at past, current, and future U.S.-India relations. Panelists included Ambassador David Mulford, the U.S. Ambassador to India from 2004 to 2009; Nisha Biwal, President of the U.S.-India Business Council and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs; and foreign affairs analyst and journalist Bobby Ghosh. The lively conversation revolved around the India-United States Civil Nuclear Agreement signed in 2005, the role of diplomacy in the bilateral relationship, and India’s increasing soft power, which according to the panel, evolved in the last generation through an influx of Indian software engineers during Y2K updates in the late 20th century.
The final session centered on social investment in India, notably the work of panelists Zachary Dell, an entrepreneur who founded SaniSolv, and Sapphira Goradia, Executive Director of the Goradia Foundation. Dell told about his team’s invention, which aims to improve sanitary conditions and public health in rural India through easy access to low-cost waste processing. Goradia talked about her family’s work through Pratham USA, which empowers young Indians through literacy in under-served communities.
Beyond panel discussions, attendees learned about technical training and education from Manish Kumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Skill Development Corporation via a Skype conversation from New Delhi; and the value of social well-being through a holistic business model from Joseph Emmett, Director of the Vedanta Institute Houston.
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 12 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.