BackPM Narendra Modi dines with Fortune 500 CEOs
Modi said during the meeting that governance reform was his first priority
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New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dined with over 50 CEOs from the Fortune 500 companies while continuing his pitch that India is open for business. The dinner event, organized by the prestigious Fortune magazine, was attended by some 47 top US CEOs on Thursday.
Modi said during the meeting that governance reform was his first priority. “Reform in governance is my No. 1 priority. We are for simplified procedures, speedy decision-making, transparency and accountability," Modi told the group of top American CEOs with a collective net worth of $4.5 trillion over a dinner as he presented a page-long fact sheet of the steps taken by his government in the last one year.
Among the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who attended the dinner were Lockheed Martin chairman and CEO Marillyn Hewson, Ford president and CEO Mark Fields, IBM chairman Ginni Rometty, Pepsi Co. chief Indra Nooyi and Dow Chemical chairman Andrew Liveris. Citigroup chairman Michael O’Neill, MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, Boeing International president Marc Allen, Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn, Blackstone president Hamilton James, SanDisk co-founder Sanjay Mehrotra, Harman International chairman Dinesh Palatal and Time Inc CEO Joe Ripp were also present on the occasion.
Four-time Michelin-starred Chef Vikas Khanna had prepared all organic meal for the occasion.
Briefing reporters after the day-long meetings, Indian ambassador to the US Arun K. Singh said the comments made by some of the CEOs was that a lot of progress has been made in the last one year, but it has been inaccurately assessed and reported. During the meeting, the Prime Minister said the foreign direct investment (FDI) all over the world has fallen but it has increased 40% in India. “This reflects confidence in the Indian economy," Modi said.
During the meeting, Swarup said the Prime Minister listened from each of the CEOs present in the room on what their plans are for India and what are the problems they are facing and how that can be resolved. “By and large the mood was very upbeat. There is general consensus that the Prime Minister is effecting change in India. The only thing all the CEOs said is that please make that change faster," the Indian diplomat said.
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