India's large and young workforce is its "biggest asset," according to experts that spoke at the second annual Tuck India Business Conference, held at the Tuck School of Business on Friday. The event, which featured two keynote speakers, a book signing, live music and two panel discussions, brought students, staff and a diverse group of business professionals together to discuss the economic opportunities created by India's new-found financial strength.
Keynote speaker Arun Nanda, an executive at Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, an industrial leader in India, highlighted India's progress, but stressed that the country has a long way to go.
"I remember when I first came to the [United Kingdom], if you were Indian, you were equated to a bus driver or a janitor at Heathrow Airport," Nanda said, "Now, we have the second highest number of Ph.D's in the world."
Nanda said he believes India's economy will continue to flourish due to the size of its population and demographics. India is home to about one sixth of the world's people, and, Nanda said, 52 percent of its citizens are below age 25.
"I remember not very long ago we thought a billion people is a curse, but we all realize that it's our biggest asset today," Nanda said.
An additional 12 million people joined India's workforce every year from 1999 to 2005. About 250 million people, however, still live below the poverty line, and more than one third of India's population survives on less than one dollar a day, according to the event's web site.
Ron Somers, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, delivered the second keynote speech. The USIBC consists of 250 of the top American companies that are investing in India as well as 24 global Indian companies. Somers, who has lived in India for the past five years, urged business students to take advantage of India's powerful economy.
"As you advance your careers, you need to be keeping a leg in India, a leg in China and a leg in the United States," he said.
Somers emphasized the close relationship between the United States and India, noting that the Bush administration has done more for the U.S.-India relationship than all other U.S. presidents combined. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Indian prime minister was one of the first to call the White House and offer condolences, according to Somers, and India's population has very high opinions of the United States in relation to the rest of the world.
"There is not a country in the world that likes the United States this much," he said.
Both speakers stressed the importance of reaching out to India's young citizens, because they represent such a large proportion of the population.
"If we do not reach out to this generation, it will be a Himalayan blunder," Somers said.
A group of Tuck students was responsible for choosing the speakers and panelists, according to Lisa Green, the coordinator of marketing programs and communications for the Center for International Business at Tuck.
