‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ - Indian Merchants’ Chamber hosts Young Leaders’ Forum

by Staff Writer 29-06-2023 | 10:56 PM

Colombo (News 1st) - India is racing ahead to digitalize the world’s largest populated country to connect it to the world, and in this backdrop, the Indian Merchants’ Chamber held its Third Young Leaders’ Forum on Wednesday (28^th), on the theme of ‘One South Asia: One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

The Youth Conclave 2023 was broadcast virtually to a global audience and featured a star-studded cast of professionals from many diverse spheres, across Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bhutan, and Afghanistan.

Headquartered in Mumbai, the Indian Merchants’ Chamber was founded in 1907 and has a membership of 150 trade associations and 5,000 members from diverse industrial sectors of India’s economy.

The Young Leaders' Forum was founded in 2001 to encourage ingenuity and create a new vision for a new generation of professionals, industrialists, and technocrats.

The government of India was represented by Anurag Thakur Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports; Jayant Sinha, Chairman of the Indian Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance; and Amitabh Kant, the G20 Sherpa during India's presidency of the G20.

The thought-provoking topics included a shared future for the world; creativity in delivering economic growth; climate action and sustainability; disruptive leadership in social movements; inclusive technology for all; and women leadership.

Among the speakers on the topic of 'Disruptive Entrepreneurs for Social Change was Chevaan Daniel, Group Director of the Sri Lanka's Capital Maharaja Group, who heads the globally recognized Gammadda Movement that carries out development projects in the most rural areas of Sri Lanka. He was joined by Aarti Wig, Head of Future Thinking, Yunus Social Business Global Initiatives, which is Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus' accelerator for social business; and Suhani Jalota, Founder of the Myna Mahila Foundation, who is an activist working to improve public health in India.

A unique feature of this year's Youth Conclave was a Social Fiction Competition titled 'Imagining the Future' for students from pan-India colleges as well as South Asian International Institutes and Universities, showcasing their creativity and imagination on G20 themes.