Full Text of Vote of Thanks by Dean Rao

Honourable Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh; His Excellency the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Rameshwar Thakur; Honourable Chief Minister, Dr Rajasekhara Reddy; Rajat Gupta; Sunil Munjal; distinguished Board Members and invitees, Professor Vishwanadham, faculty, staff and students of ISB and the media, it is my pleasant duty to present the vote of thanks.

First of all, I would like to thank the honourable Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, for his inaugural address at the Global Logistic Summit. I am sure you have set the stage for the Summit through your excellent address. We realise that logistics infrastructure and connectivity are not sufficient, and that we have to invest in the capabilities of the people living in the rural areas. I am sure that the conference will take this into account. We are also thankful Sir, for your advice about applying management techniques to transform grass root practices in increase of rural economy and living standards of people in rural areas. I want to assure you that we at ISB, believe that excellence is a continuing journey and not a destination. We will do our best to sustain the ISB as a globally top ranked institute for a long time to come.

We are happy that many of our research programmes, especially those of the Centre for Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies (GLAMS), are in line with the policy initiatives of the government. We are committed to conducting research and development in rural areas and hi-tech supply chain problems faced in India. We thank you for your encouragement and for the faith you have placed in the ISB. We do hope that sometime in the immediate future, you will be able to spend more time, and address our students and faculty specifically.

I thank His Excellency, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Rameshwar Thakur, and the Honourable Chief Minister, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, for gracing this occasion and for their excellent addresses.

I thank S K Munjal, Chairman Hero Corporate Services, for partnering us in organising this conference. I hope that this is the beginning of a long relationship with Hero MindMine, and that we, together, can take this idea forward and transform rural India.

I thank our sponsors MCX and Satyam Computers Services Limited for the generous contributions towards making this Summit possible. I thank all the speakers and industry leaders in advance for participating in the Global Logistics Summit. Your participation, I am sure, will add depth to the content and deliberations.

I thank the members of the media for supporting us today, as you have always done, and for cooperating with all the arrangements made for today.

Last, but never the least, I thank our Chairman, Rajat Gupta, for being with us to celebrate our Fifth anniversary, and for attending the inauguration of the Summit. Your presence constantly reminds us of the vision and energy that went into making the ISB what it is today.

An event of this magnitude requires detailed planning months in advance. It also requires meticulous execution that leaves nothing to chance. Dedicated colleagues from the ISB, and from the Hero Corporate Services, have worked hard to make this event happen. I cannot thank everyone enough for the initiative and involvement they have shown, and their willingness to complete the task beyond their comfort zones. I would like to thank the Development Team, the Communications Team, the Operations Team, the IT Team, and student volunteers for their commitment towards making this event a success. Once again I thank everyone present here for sharing this special moment with us.