Davos 2018: PM Narendra Modi hosted a roundtable meeting with CEOs from across the world in Davos
Highlights
- PM Narendra Modi hosts roundtable with global CEOs at Davos
- 'PM was open to listening what more can be done', says Chanda Kochhar
- PM Modi first Indian PM to attend World Economic Forum in over 20 years
At a round table with global CEOs in Davos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed everyone by their first name, took questions and invited ideas, participants told NDTV on Monday.
Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Wipro's Azim Premji were among those who attended the event.
"It was a very fantastic event, PM himself was so involved in not just communicating what he had done in India, but was very open to listening to what more can be done...to every point he had a response," Chanda Kochhar told NDTV.
"He was very participative, very responsive and as usual, very, very inspirational," said Ms Kocchar.
Later in the day, PM Modi became the first Indian prime minister to speak at the World Economic Forum. He debuted at the opening session, where his message was that India is open for business.
Those who attended the round table said many global CEOs spoke about how they were increasing investments in India.
"The most interesting thing was uniform enthusiasm among CEOs of doing business with India, about the market, about the dynamism, about the greater ease of doing business, the sense of economic growth, and the sense of engagement in the 42 months that the Prime Minister has been Prime Minister," remarked Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman, HIS Markit.
Mr Yergin observed that it was "most interesting" how people were looking at India "very different than four years ago. "What struck me more than anything else is that he said we are moving from the ease of doing business to the ease of living, less fighting with governments, less conflict," he said.
The energy pundit also felt it was a "really big deal" that an Indian prime minister is there after a long time.
Vedanta's Anil Agarwal said he found it "amazing" how much he remembered for everybody. "He addressed everybody by personal name...Today, at Davos, everybody is talking about Modi. People are not getting enough of him," Mr Agarwal told NDTV.