Leisure boating business conference in Mumbai on Feb 23

Mumbai, Feb 17 (UNI) A business conference on leisure boating will be held here on February 23 in order to build partnerships and potential joint venture opportunities in the emerging ''sunrise'' industry.

The conference will be held on the occasion of the first ever International Boat Show in the metropolis.

As the Indian economy is booming, the time is right to bring leisure boating to India. The luxury goods market is pegged at half a billion US dollars and is growing at a rate of 20 per cent per annum, a release said.

The release quoted the findings by CapGemini-Merill Lynch, wherein it was stated that India has the second fastest growing high network indivision (HNI) population in the world. It is growing at 19.3 per cent per year (second only to South Korea). Super-deluxe brands like Porsche, Louis Vuitton, Rolls-Royce, Tag Heuer, Bvlgari, and Chanel, as they have entered the market last year.

In 2006, there were an estimated 83,000 Indians with assets over US 1 million dollars. As many as 13,000 new Indians were added to the millionaires' list in the past year alone, that is a 15 per cent per annum increase over the previous year).

The conference will cover wide ranging topics from leisure marine infrastructure, bringing yacht designs to a new market as well as search and rescue in coastal waters. There will also be a round table discussion on the growing leisure boating and its impact on the economy.

Among the speakers will be internationally renowned persons such as Jeff Houlgrave MRIN (Sales and Marketing Director), C&N Marinas, Paul Strzelecki, CEO, Henri Lloyd, Robin Walters, chairman, Walcon Marine Ltd, the release added.

Milind Deora, MP, said ''With its proud maritime tradition, Mumbai is the ideal city for such a prestigious event. It will usher in new development opportunities and water sport activities for the citizens of this vibrant coastal metropolis.'' Maharashtra government's secretary (special projects) Sanjay Ubale said ''This event will stimulate Mumbai to attain new heights and will reaffirm its position as India's commercial and business hub.'' UNI LS SSS AW1707