12th Wharton India Economic Forum 2008 to be held on March 22

New Delhi, Feb 22 (ANI/Business Wire India): The 12th Annual Wharton India Economic Forum 2008 (WIEF) will be held in Philadelphia on March 22.

The conference will feature as keynote speakers former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, and prominent venture capitalist and the father of the Intel Pentium microprocessor, Vinod Dham.

The theme of this year's Conference is 'India | Imagine'. This Forum will serve as the platform for Indian leaders to envisage the next phase of India's journey to success while being mindful of potential roadblocks.

Previous WIEF conferences have featured prominent speakers such as Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, McKinsey Managing Director Rajat Gupta, industrialists Rahul Bajaj, Anil Ambani, Sunil Mittal and Mukesh Ambani, technocrats N.R Narayana Murthy and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor, and US Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson.

Over the last two years, WIEF has traced the Indian growth story exploring themes such as 'India's Mantra for Success' and 'Realizing the Indian Dream".

Today, WIEF feels that India has reached a pinnacle and seeks to aggressively assess all the different issues that India may face on its continued journey towards becoming an economic powerhouse.

From development to health-care and mass retail to investments, WIEF invites participants to explore India with her leaders.

The panel discussions will cover the following:

Keynote Speakers

Vinod Dham - Founder and Managing Director, NEA-IndoUS Ventures

India's New Mandate: Addressing the Health Care Paradox

-- Rajiv Gulati - Chairman and Managing Director, Eli Lilly and Company (India)

-- Prakash Khubchandani - Founder and Managing Director, Khubchandani Group

-- K. Srinath Reddy - President, Public Health Foundation of India

-- Suneeta Reddy - Director-Finance, Apollo Hospital Enterprises, Ltd.

Mass Retail: Getting Organized to Grow Too Soon?

-- Arvind Singhal - Chairman, Technopak

-- Sumant Sinha - CEO, Aditya Birla Retail

The Indian Diaspora

-- Sant Chatwal - President and CEO, Hampshire Hotels and Resorts, LLC

-- Neelam Deo - Consul General of India, New York

Investing in India: The Maturation Process, What's Next?

-- Sumir Chadha - Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India

-- Heramb Hajarnavis, Goldman Sachs PIA

-- Ranjit Pandit - Managing Director, General Atlantic Partners LLC

-- Zubin Dubash, India Head, Merrill Lynch Private Equity

Infrastructure: No Longer an Achilles Heel of Growth

-- Nasser Munjee - Chairman, Development Credit Bank Ltd.

India's Unprivileged Majority: The Real Development Story

-- Shanta Devarajan - Chief Economist, World Bank's South Asia Region

-- Vikram Akula - CEO and Founder, SKS Microfinance

Technology's role in the New Indian Economy

-- Mr. Sunil Dutt - Country Head, Samsung Mobile India

--Dr. Y.V. Verma - Director (HR and Management Support), LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd

ANI