Most respected Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Corporate Affairs Minister Shri Salman Khurshid, Shri Hari S. Bhartia, President, CII; Shri Dilip Modi, President, ASSOCHAM; Shri Onkar S. Kanwar, Past President, FICCI; Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Member Convenor, Board of Trustees of National Foundation of Corporate Governance; distinguished Members from Corporate Sector, Professional Bodies, members of Diplomatic Corps, friends from Media, Ladies and Gentlemen,-

A very Good Morning and Welcome to you all.

Today is a historic day for Corporate India when after celebrating the first ever India Corporate Week in December, 2009 and following robust economic performance during the year, representatives of the corporate sector and professionals, have assembled here for the inauguration of the second India Corporate Week and listen to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

During the concluding session of India Corporate Week 2009, on 21st December last year, the Ministry after consulting a large number of stakeholders released two voluntary guidelines namely; (i) Voluntary Guidelines for Corporate Governance and (ii) Voluntary Guidelines for Corporate Social Responsibility in the presence of Her Excellency the President of India in this very hall of Vigyan Bhawan. These two guidelines have generated a considerable amount of interest and enthusiasm both in India and abroad in the corporate, professional and intellectual spheres.

The Ministry has received delegations and was also invited to participate in various programmes from a large number of countries as well as international bodies like OECD, World Bank, GRI, IFAC to discuss about the various subjects covered in these guidelines.

Under the general guidance of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and under the stewardship of Hon’ble Corporate Affairs Minister, this Ministry has taken two mottos as the corporate development strategy; i) corporate growth with enlightened regulations and ii) corporate sector with inclusive growth. India is a fast developing country and the Ministry feels that whenever we re-visit any Act, Rules, Regulations, we must consult a wider section of the stakeholders, so that our decisions do not hinder the growth of this vibrant sector of the country’s economy.

Similarly, we have been trying to increase the depth of the capital market by bringing more companies especially the public sector enterprises to become listed as well as by making the common retail investors informed. Our theme is “informed investor is an asset to the Corporate India”. Last year the Ministry had conducted 300 investor education programmes, and in the beginning of this year we had taken a target of 3000 programmes for this year, which is a ten-fold increase. With the involvement of 18 national and regional level organisations like RBI, SEBI, NSE, BSE, MCX Exchange along with trade and commerce bodies, educational and professional institutes, we have made a little known programme of the Ministry a National level Programme and got it spread throughout the country.

Sir, I am happy to inform that as of yesterday, already 3514 programmes have been conducted and we still have three & half months to go. On a more permanent basis, we have developed an informative booklet called “A Beginner’s Guide to The Capital Market” and translated it into all regional languages. We have also developed an investor education website – www.iepf.gov.in. A nation-wide release of this website in all the 11 regional languages in a user friendly format will be launched here today by the Hon’ble Prime Minister .

In recent years, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has, through the e-governance MCA21 portal, made filing of returns and e-registration more efficient and user friendly. We have also made the Competition Commission of India and Competition Appellate Tribunal functional. The scrutiny of the Standing Committee of Parliament for the new Companies Bill is also over and we expect that this will become a law during the ensuing Budget Session.

Our professionals like Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants and Company Secretaries are second to none in the international sphere. However, our professional firms could not become global though some of our industrial enterprises have become MNCs in a real sense of the term. Ministry has passed the Limited Liability Partnership Act for encouraging the professional organisations to take advantage of that and become global in the near future.

Sir, under your guidance and stewardship, India has become a proud member of the G20. The entire corporate sector and the representatives of various other organisations present here along with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs feel a part and parcel of this achievement. So, this year we have decided to celebrate the ‘India Corporate Week – 2010’ with the theme “Sustainable Business in 21st Century”. With the active participation of all the apex level trade and commerce bodies like CII, ASSOCHAM, FICCI, PHD chamber, all the professional organizations and many other regional and state level bodies we will be conducting more than 400 programmes in this week on various issues connected with sustainable business.

Today’s inaugural event, Ladies and Gentlemen, is one of the rare occasions when the entire Corporate India has come together along with the Ministry to express their solidarity for the growth and the development of the country, and to listen to our thinker Prime Minister and get his guidance for taking our development efforts to a greater height in a more sustainable manner. On behalf of the entire corporate sector and the Ministry , let me now welcome our beloved Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with a unique flower bouquet.