The Centre for Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies (GLAMS) hosted the flagship event of the Global Logistic Summit from December 5-6, 2006. The inaugural session of this event was earmarked by the high-profile address of the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh. Lauding the effort of such a Summit, the PM said, “While your conference may well focus on the more immediate challenge of improving rural logistics, infrastructure and connectivity, the greater challenge is to improve quality of rural life in its totality.” He added that logistics can play a key role in integrating rural and urban India, contributing both to employment creation and income generation. “Logistics is not just about time or space, nor is it about the mechanics of movement of goods and people. Logistics is, above all, about managing people,” noted the PM. With the theme ‘Logistics - Competitive Advantage and Rural Growth’, the Summit explored challenges and opportunities of rural and global supply chain networks in India. It sought to, firstly, enable better penetration of products in rural areas through organised logistics, and also strategically place the Indian manufacturing industry as world leaders. Finally, the Summit drew the blueprint to take the agribusiness and manufacturing industry to the next level of competitiveness. The session on Rural Business Transformation, chaired by S K Munjal, MD, Hero Corporate Service Limited, dealt with rural initiatives like the Bharat Nirman Project by the Government of India, initiatives in rural retail logistics by Corporate India, and initiatives to protect the small farmer form the globalisation onslaught. Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group, gave his insights on rural retailing. “Understanding our rural customer is our key challenge, and it is necessary to provide innovative market initiatives to them,” he said. Godrej noted that it is vital to tap the markets at the bottom of the pyramid. “Almost 25% of the villages, with populations less than 500, have no access to even a single shop,” he said. B Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Satyam Computers Service Limited, spoke about a few rural transformation initiatives. The session on ‘How to build a Global Business’ had an upbeat keynote speaker, Dr Thomas Schmidheiny, Director, Holcim. “Vast opportunities lie for us in the emerging markets,” said the Director of the second largest cement company in the world, adding that they have a 60% business presence in emerging markets alone. Mallika Srinvasan, Director, Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, stated that manufacturing growth is driven more by a surge in domestic demand than exports. “Growth in the manufacturing sector will make India’s growth more inclusive, and will give a sustainable depth to our economic story,” she said. She made two interesting observations – Firstly, that the manufacturing sector is the only sector which generates levels of employment, and secondly, she threw open the question whether China was more a collaborator or a contender as far as manufacturing was concerned. Do we have the perfect storm? That was the query which Arun Maira, Chairman, The Boston Consulting Group, addressed. He spoke of not one, but three storms that India has taken the world by - in manufacturing and trade, in computer and telecom technology, and in new business ideas. “We will take advantage of this storm and sail safe” he said. Finally a comment by Maira summed up the Summit’s direction, “India will be a hub for white-collared, high-skilled and intensive manufacturing, “he said.