GOLDMAN GOES TO INDIA FOR A BOARD MEETING
Goldman Sachs’ directors will be trading downtown Manhattan for upstart Mumbai as they hold their annual meeting in India for the first time ever.
The 12 members of the board, including Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal (pictured), have decided to make the highly symbolic trip to the subcontinent in order to emphasise their “commitment” to Asia’s third largest economy and consider investment opportunities in the fast-developing country.
The Wall Street bank’s chairman Lloyd Blankfein, chief operating officer Gary Cohn and the other directors are set to spend three days in the country, arriving on 29 March. They will split their time between Mumbai and New Delhi, with meetings scheduled with top politicians and businessmen.
Goldman Sachs has held directors’ meetings in emerging economies before, making the trip to China and Brazil in recent years.
Sonjoy Chatterjee, chairman & co-CEO of Goldman Sachs India, told The Times of India: “With inflation easing and the reversal in monetary tightening, our country is now at the beginning of a new growth stimulus. In that context, the timing of the board’s visit bears significance.”
India’s economy has continued to boom as its Western rivals have suffered, with GDP growth predicted to hit 6.9 per cent in this fiscal year and a stock market that has jumped 17 per cent in 2012.