The 2009 WEF was inaugurated this morning in New Delhi by the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Dr. Singh, the primary architect of the new Indian economy was very upbeat about the prospects of the Indian economy in 2010 and beyond. He felt that India responded to the economic crisis better than most other countries. If there is a normal monsoon next year (the Indian economy has a direct correlation to these seasonal rains), he expects GDP to grow by 7% next year. His medium term objective continues to be 8% to 9% growth per annum. Since the domestic savings rate is an astonishing 35% of GDP, he believes that this is a feasible target. “India looks to the future with confidence and hope. We are better placed than any other time in the recent past to push reform forward. I hope to see India as one of the leading economies of the world”.

In “The India Competitiveness Review 2009″ released especially for the WEF, N Ramesh Rajan and Jairaj Purandare of PWC India report that “Indian CEOs’ optimism extends to the country’s broader economy as well, with nearly two-thirds expecting recovery, defined as stable and steady growth, by the middle of 2010. Indeed, more than one-third of CEOs believe their industry and the country’s economy have already recovered or will have by the end of this year.

“Indian chief executives expect their greatest international competition in global markets during the recovery to come from China (34%) and the EU (15%)…. And the US, headquarters for 140 of the Fortune Global 500, was only named by 6% of Indian CEOs as their greatest international competitor”.

Over the next couple of days I plan to spend my time with these CEOs to ratify these statements.