Global CEOs making a beeline for India

By siliconindia staff writer   |   Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Come Saturday and India will once again warm up to hosting the who’s who of global business. In fact, PepsiCo chairman & CEO Steve Reinemund’s three-day visit to India, beginning October 23, will jumpstart the visit India season, reports Hindustan Times. Following him in November will be Microsoft Corp’s president & CEO Steve Ballmer, Boeing president & CEO Harry Stonecipher, Intel Corp CEO Craig Barrett, and Alstom chairman & CEO Patrick Kron. And as expected the itineraries are jam-packed. Even as Pepsi India spokesperson calls the visit a routine one, this would be Reinemund’s first visit in three years after he took over as the chairman & CEO. “He will spend time visiting Indian operations, addressing employees and possibly squeeze in a trip to the Punjab facility,” according to the spokesperson. For Microsoft’s biggie Ballmer, this would be his second visit in nine years. While his itinerary has a trip to Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai packed into it, the trip underlines the importance that India has come to gain as a strategic development base as well as market for Microsoft. While Intel CEO Barrett's visit in mid-November is still under wraps, there are reports that he may be accompanied by a high-level team including president & COO Paul S. Otellini. The French major Alstom will host its CEO in India on Nov 2. The purpose of the visit is to oversee Indian operations and tap opportunities in the power sector. In addition to the CEO brigade there are a host of events that will bring the bigwigs to Indian shores. Oracle Corp executive VP Ron Wohl, for instance, will be coming down to attend the Oracle Open World that will be held in India after a gap of five years. This will be Wohl’s first visit to India.

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