Emcees, awardees with Dr. Jagdish Sheth,

The entire event was compeered by the vivacious Suchita Vadlamani, the noted co-host of Good Day Atlanta of Fox5 TV channel and Rajiv Satyal, the widely acclaimed Indian American comedian.

Dr. Jagdish Sheth, the Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University was the keynote speaker at the gala. Dr. Jagdish Sheth is an erudite scholar and a wizard in corporate marketing. His views on global competition, strategic thinking and customer relationship management are considered revolutionary. His speeches are indeed thought-provoking and inspire his listeners to think differently and afresh.

Given the imaginative theme “Incredible India”, Dr. Sheth spoke about the emerging India- the India of the 21st century. He termed the newly emerging India as the country’s second independence. He said that during 1947 India

Dr. Jagdish Sheth

got political independence from the mighty British but beyond that nothing much of significance happened. Second independence was born of an economic crisis in 1991. During the last 17 years India has accomplished remarkable transformation and a change for betterment much faster than what happened during the first 17 years in China. The country that was chronically in BOP deficit suddenly began to enjoy large surplus in foreign exchange. India already produced 100, 000 millionaires – not to speak of a few billionaires as well. India is turning out to be a large acquirer of big corporations’ world wide. He named acquisitions of American companies Novelis Inc., by Hindalco, a group of Aditya Birla group and TATA’s plans to buy Ford’s iconic Jaguar -land rover. The speaker envisioned more and more acquisitions as Indian corporations are now growing in financial strengths with tremendous global aspirations. Rapid globalization of India can occur through large scale acquisitions, the speaker added.

Dr. Sheth pointed out to the audience that India has done three basic things. Firstly, the image of India has changed dramatically world wide, not only because of the software industry but also due to the remarkable accomplishments of the Indian Diaspora worldwide.

Secondly, India today is a self confident nation because of her growing international stature. India is rich in human resources with abundant talent. Entrepreneurs are now greatly respected in India and their numbers are growing at a faster pace. These are very healthy developments and augur well for the future.

Thirdly, the new middle class segment is prospering and their life styles are perceptibly changing for the better. This is a massive change that will impact the markets in India. The same thing happened 100 years ago in America. The biggest revolution in India is taking place in retail segment. It is expected to surpass the GDP of America. Due to the large expansion of infrastructure facilities, India’s GDP is growing tremendously.

Referring to the relationship between Georgia and India, Dr. Sheth said Atlanta is very well positioned with its strategic location and the climate will be very conducive to Indians. With the launching of Delta flight from Atlanta to Mumbai people can fly to any destination from Atlanta as it is well connected. If you once land in Atlanta from Mumbai you can easily reach to any destination. Dr. Sheth said we are striving very hard to induce large Indian corporations coming to North America and to have their head quarters in Atlanta. Mahindra & Mahindra and Wipro are already in Atlanta. The ties between India and the state of Georgia are getting much stronger and the Savanna port will play a key role in this development.

We are promoting education in India and we expect Atlanta city to become a global hub city. Atlanta is now doing exceedingly well and people must come forward to aggressively promote our position as global hub city. If we create greater awareness about Atlanta and its strategic advantages, it is very likely that more and more Indian corporations will start looking to Atlanta for their US operations

Earlier Dr. Narsi Narasimhan, president of GIACC listed the achievements of GIACC and said any event of this magnitude is not possible without an enthusiastic and dedicated team and sponsors. He told that GIACC is a great catalyst in growing trade between Georgia and India. He further said the support we get from top rated companies

	Dr. Narsi Narasimhan

 like Coco Cola and Delta Air lines is tremendous. He told the audience that there are immense possibilities of working with India, the fourth largest economy in the world and Georgia is the best suited to do business with India. He thanked the members, sponsors and guests for their cooperation and presence. Dr. Jagdish Sheth, keynote speaker presented member of the year award to Ketan Shah, the founder’s award to Kirtan Patel and to Delta Airlines, a Georgia-based company for doing business with India. Vinay Dubey an official from Delta Air Lines received the award on behalf of his company.

Craig Lesser, former Commissioner of economic development, Georgia told India Tribune that the gala was an extraordinary meeting. The relation between India and Georgia continues to grow Atlanta Indian community providing the lead. A direct Delta flight from Atlanta to Mumbai is a great incentive to motivate people to travel back and forth. Another aspect is the educational component because of Georgia Tech, Emory University and its highly educated faculty from India.

Justice Carol Hunstein of Georgia Supreme Court told the India Tribune that he was delighted attending the gala and he truly enjoyed it. He claimed he has many friends from India. We must understand that we are both talented people and we need to work together to benefit each other.

Vinay Dubey, an official from Delta Air lines at the gala, told India Tribune that Delta is very happy to be the part of GIACC activities. We have much in common between India and America in terms of trade and other business interests. He wanted more bilateral relations and assured that Delta will further help trade between the two countries.

Teri Simmons, Chair, Atlanta City Sister Cities Commission said GIACC is making a positive contribution to Atlanta. It brings American community and Indian community together. He wanted GIACC to recognize that they are here to support international relations with India and America. It is critically important because both the Indian and Atlanta metropolitan city communities basically support each other.

Suchita Vadlamani and Rajiv Satyal	Guests at the gala