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Dato Vijay Eswaran Speaks at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2008



Theme: Knowledge Economy



Dato' Vijay Eswaran was recently invited by the Government of India to speak at the 6th annual Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD), the largest convention of the global Indian diaspora.



The PBD is a prestigious platform for global Indians to confer with prominent ministers of the Indian government to discuss important issues related to the diaspora. Dato' Vijay Eswaran was part of a distinguished panel discussion on the 'Knowledge Economy' that included Mr. Sam Pitroda, chairman of India's National Knowledge Commission; Mr. Kapil Sibal, Indian minister for Science & Technology; Dr. Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM and Dr. Balaji Sadasivam, Senior Minister from Singapore. The two-day convention of the 6th annual PBD covered, among others, important sessions such as the 'Knowledge Economy', Trade & Business opportunities, Social Development Challenges and Investment & Infrastructure.



Having worked in North America and Europe, and built worldwide businesses from South East Asia. Dato' Vijay Eswaran has a truly global background to bring to bear on the competitive aspect in the Knowledge Economy.



In his inimitable style, Dato' Eswaran urged India to increase its international competitiveness, beyond the field of IT. "We should not live in the dogma of an IT world. The role of IT is to enhance and we must recognize that IT is not the be all and end all, it is only a modality. Our company is an e-commerce company which harnesses the use of IT, but we are not an IT company."



Vijay Eswaran (http://www.vijayeswaran.net) pointed to China's economic success because it did not allow its manufacturing and agrarian sectors to fall to neglect.



"Knowledge Economy existed in India without and before the 'IT revolution'. India has been at the forefront of transferring technology, arts and culture for centuries. It was the world's largest economy in the first millennium and had one third share in the GDP of the world. The issue is therefore to remember what we have forgotten."



Vijay Eswaran urged the Indians to strengthen the infrastructure core, enable better access to education, and to shed their ancient risk-averse mindset. "A culture that truly enhances innovation supports the view that to try hard and fail is perfectly fine. Yet, the Indian psyche has historically been averse to blessing the risky ventureSuch a cultural mindset hinders innovation because meaningful innovation is almost never without significant risk.


Innovation thrives only where the spirit of human enterprise is given free reign."



Vijay Eswaran asked the government to sit back and allow entrepreneurship. He also exhorted corporates to support innovation. "Meaningful innovation has to transcend to the corporate arena. Ideas, unlike property, cannot be protected with walls. It needs synergy and innovation, which only comes with competition. Competition is what we need to evolve. Intellectual Property has cultural dimensions and this should be recognized. It is not just an economic issue."



Vijay Eswaran (http://www.vijayeswaran.com) stressed the need for Education which focuses on learning rather than schooling; a need for Education which promotes creativity and not memory power. Referring to the ancient gurukula system of learning, he said it successfully transferred knowledge not by rote but by questioning, seeking, challenging and analyzing. Eswaran pointed out how if a student could find a better angle on a particular philosophy or concept, that was included in the knowledge, because it was a learning system.



Dato' Vijay Easwaran also offered his insight into how the participation and contribution of Global Indians can be furthered for the Indian renaissance. To enthuse the NRIs about investing and knowledge-sharing, they should be given the room and operational liberty so that they could give a fillip to economic development. As Eswaran expressed his views on the occasion, "Innovation being a key, Knowledge Economy requires a climate that can acquire, create, disseminate and use knowledge -- a climate favourable to entrepreneurship -- one which is, as much as possible, free from bureaucratic, regulatory and other obstacles."



Vijay Eswaran's speech was welcomed and won praise, and a lively discussion ensued among the attendees. As he spoke from a broad-based personal knowledge of the developing economies, his words carried credibility and struck a chord across the diverse groups of the gathering from across the world.



About Vijay Eswaran


Dato' Vijay Eswaran (http://www.datovijayeswaran.com) is a Malaysian Citizen of Indian origin, but he is better described as a Global Citizen. Dato' Vijay Eswaran completed his higher education in leading universities in UK and the USA.



Dato' Vijay Eswaran has recently penned his first book titled "In the Sphere of Silence" that encapsulates the core of the philosophy he lives his life by.






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