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President Kalam to inaugurate BANCON-2004

New Delhi, November 08, 2004

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, shall inaugurate the Bankers' Conference 2004, which is being hosted by Punjab National Bank (PNB) with the organizational support of Indian Banks' Association (IBA), on 10th & 11th November, 2004 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The theme of the Conference is "Indian Banking: Realising Global Aspirations." This is the first time that such a Conference is being inaugurated by the President of India.

Mr. S.S. Kohli, Chairman & Managing Director, PNB said that there will be Special Addresses by Shri P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister, Dr. YV Reddy, Governor, Reserve Bank of India and Dr Anne O. Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund. Valedictory Address shall be delivered by Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy Chairman, Planning Commission. The Conference is also being addressed by Mr Jaime Caruana, Governor, Bank of Spain and Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision alongwith three Deputy Governors of RBI. Some of the other eminent Speakers of the Conference include Dr. Rakesh Mohan, Secretary (Deptt. of Economic Affairs), Mr. N S Sisodia, Secretary (Financial Sector), Mr. Vinod Rai, Additional Secretary (Financial Sector) Mr. GN Bajpai, Chairman, SEBI, Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia (eminent economist), Mr. NR Narayana Murthy (Chairman of Board & Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd.), Mr. Kai Nargolwala (Chairman, Wholesale Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore,) CEOs of Banks and Financial Professionals.

Mr. Kohli further added that PNB is hosting the Conference after a gap of 18 years. It was in the year 1986 that PNB hosted the Bank Economists' Conference. Over 1200 participants are expected to take part in the Conference comprising CEOs of Public, Private and Foreign Banks, Senior Officials of Government of India and RBI, Finance Professionals and Academicians. On this occasion, the bank is also releasing a Compendium comprising 60 papers, contributed by various authors.

The Conference will have five technical sessions with contemporary topics like "Creating Global Winners from India", Corporate Governance : Towards Best Practices", "Role of Banks in Entrepreneurial Development & Micro Finance", "Technology in Banks : The Road Ahead", and "Basel II : Emerging Market Perspectives". These sessions shall be Chaired by eminent bankers or other top professionals in the relative fields like the session on the topic Basel II is being Chaired by none other than the Governor, Banco de Espana and Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Mr Jamie Caruana.

Mr. H.N. Sinor, Chief Executive, IBA said that this is the First Bankers' Conference in revised format. Earlier, the Conferences were known as "Bank Economists' Conference" and in the series, this is the 26th such Conference. IBA is providing the organisational support for hosting the conference as in the past. IBA's Vision is that Indian banking industry should evolve into a strong, sound and globally competitive financial system. The theme of this year's conference is in conformity with the last year's theme, "Indian Banking: Moving Towards Globalisation" , which was hosted by Union Bank of India at Mumbai.

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