PAFI’s 8th National Forum To Focus on “Reviving the Economy: Reimagine. Reboot. Reform”

Bengaluru : Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI), the only organisation in India representing corporate public affairs professionals, will be hosting its 8th National Forum 2021 in a virtual mode on October 21 -22, 2021. It would focus on PAFI’s Annual Theme “Reviving the Economy: Reimagine. Reboot. Reform”. Over 75 panelists from all over the world, representing government, industry, media and civil society, would share their insights during 16 sessions, carefully curated and spread over two days.

They include Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India; Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India; Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.

Ajay Khanna, Forum Chairman & Co-Founder, PAFI & Group Global Chief Strategic & Public Affairs, Jubilant Bhartia Group said, “Various measures have been announced by the Government that will lead to economic growth in coming months. PAFI’s upcoming 8th National Forum 2021 will focus on the initiatives that will help revive the economy and realize the vision of becoming the largest economy by 2050. It will also emphasize on strategies that industry needs to adopt for an effective public policy and advocacy practice and drive government-industry partnerships to build mutual trust & an inclusive policy process ecosystem.”

Dr Subho Ray, President, PAFI & President, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) added, “The global and Indian economy have, in the last two years, faced unprecedented pressures, eroding the painstaking gains made over the years on several crucial indicators. The terms and nature of business have also changed forcing corporates to rework the existing models across the value chain. The Government of India has already started to implement the theme of the conference – Reimagine, Reboot and Reform. Hence, there is a need for collective efforts from all stakeholders, to come forward and join hands towards the inclusive growth.”

The Forum would also include Best-selling author and columnist Ruchir Sharma, Global Head of Public Policy at Mastercard and the former US Ambassador Richard Verma, Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Former Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Author, Diplomat and Former Rajya Sabha MP Pavan K Verma, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, National Health Authority CEO Ram Sewak Sharma, ICRIER Chairman and Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin, TeamLease Founder Manish Sabharwal, Nestle India CEO Suresh Narayanan, Sequoia Capital Managing Director Rajan Anandan and Byju’s Founder Byju Raveendran. There will be Government of India secretaries, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Dammu Ravi, Arvind Singh, Govind Mohan, and, Rajesh Aggarwal.

An exclusive session with the partner state Telangana would feature KT Rama Rao, Cabinet Minister for IT E&C, MA&UD and Industries and Commerce Department, and Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology, Electronics and Communications.

Dushyant Chautala from Haryana, Dibya Shankar Mishra from Odisha; Rajyavardhan Singh Dattigaon from Madhya Pradesh; and, Chandra Mohan Patowary from Assam would bring in the additional perspectives from state governments.

Agenda includes discussions on Reviving the Economy – Game Plan 2030, CEO’s Perspective, Transforming Policy Process, Geo-Politics and Economy, Reviving the Creative Economy, Make in India – Make for the World, Healthcare, EdTech, and, Pleasure of Doing Business. Moderators include media stalwarts like Shekhar Gupta, Shereen Bhan, R Sukumar, Vikram Chandra, Sanjoy Roy, Anil Padmanabhan, and, Navika Kumar.

Registration for the Forum is free, frictionless and open through www.pafi.in; besides the practitioners, it offers the rare and valuable opportunity for the policy researchers, students, and young practitioners who are studying, exploring or engaging in the realm of public affairs that spans policy, communication and CSR.