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News Release

Last modified: Monday, May 23, 2005

Kelley School conference to present strategies for doing business in Brazil, Russia, India and China

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 23, 2005

EDITORS: Reporters are welcome to attend conference sessions. Contact George Vlahakis (gvlahaki@indiana.edu or 812-855-0846) for a copy of the Goldman Sachs research paper referenced in this release.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The combined economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China today account for less than 15 percent of G7 economies. These nations, increasingly known as BRIC markets, are expected to lead a major shift in the balance of economic power by 2040 and are likely to replace four current G7 members.

A June 24 symposium, organized by Indiana University's Kelley School of Business and its Center for International Business Education and Research, will provide insights into these key emerging markets and help Indiana companies to develop strategies and respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by these changes.

The program, from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., will take place at the University Place Conference Center Auditorium, 850 W. Michigan St., on the campus of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

"I want to inform business executives about these emerging trends and provide a framework that they can use to put these in context and prepare themselves for it. We want to inspire, inform and equip them to take advantage of the pheonomenal business opportunities in emerging markets," said Charles Dhanaraj, assistant professor of management and the symposium's coordinator, about trends first revealed in an influential 2003 Goldman Sachs report.

The speakers at the symposium are a combination of local and foreign business executives with experience in these countries. "Typically, you'll hear about American businessmen who have gone overseas and come back and talk about what it is like, from the usual American perspective," he said. "What I wanted to do was bring in some of the most successful business executives in these markets and get them to talk about how they see the markets and where they see the opportunity and challenges for local businesses."

While much news coverage focuses on trade deficits and outsourcing, Dhanaraj said there are many opportunities for U.S. companies to partner with firms in these countries and create jobs in Indiana. One example he cited is the potential for businesses such as Embraer, a leading small and mid-size aircraft maker based in Brazil, which already is doing business with Indianapolis-based Rolls Royce to bring more operations to Indiana. An Embraer executive vice president is one of the speakers at the symposium.

"When you look at this, it is quite possible for a firm like Embraer to set up operations in Indiana, for which Indiana firms could provide some of the components or the technologies," he said. "There are two sides to the story of emerging markets. One is exploiting the growth in these markets by exporting from Indiana, and the other is getting some of the leading firms in these markets to invest in Indiana. Both will increase jobs locally, and serve to enhance our economic growth."

Sponsors of the program are a mix of public, private and university organizations. Along with Columbus-based Cummins Inc., FifthThird Bank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Eli Lilly and Co. are sponsoring the event. Also, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation have offered networks to support the center. Several research institutes at IU and the University of Evansville -- the Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana at UE, and the East Asian Studies Center, the Russian and East European Institute and the India Studies Program at IU are involved. Business associations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the World Trade Club of Indiana and the International Center of Indianapolis also have extended their support.

The visiting speakers also will interact with Kelley School MBA students in a weekend workshop in Indianapolis following the symposium, where students will study four companies these speakers are closely associated with -- Embraer in Brazil, Sakhalin in Russia, Ranbaxy in India and Haier in China -- to understand how these businesses have grown and the challenges they face, as well as to identify new and emerging opportunities for Indiana.

Speaking at the symposium will be:

-- Steven M. Chapman, group vice president-emerging markets and businesses at Cummins Inc., who has spent several years in Asia and travels extensively, establishing Cummins' businesses in all of the BRIC markets.

-- Richard A. Smith, president of Eli Lilly Asian Operations Ltd. Based in Hong Kong, he was instrumental in opening Lilly affiliates in 21 countries in Central and Eastern Europe including Russia, and he continues to oversee Lilly's operations in India and China. Smith serves as the Industry Co-Chairman of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation's Life Sciences Innovation Forum.

-- Horacio A. Forjaz, executive vice president of corporate communications of Embraer, which is based in San Paulo, Brazil. Forjaz has worked with Embraer for more than 30 years and has steered the company's planning and marketing activities across the globe.

-- Davinder S. Brar, chairman of Davix Management Services, a consulting company specializing in biosciences based in New Delhi, India. He is also a director of the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India, and sits on the boards of several businesses and schools in India. As president and CEO of Ranbaxy Laboratories, a position he held until July 2004, Brar was instrumental in steering the Indian pharmaceutical company's globalization.

-- Changqi Wu, associate dean and professor of strategic management in the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in Beijing, China. Wu sits on the boards of several publicly listed companies in China.

-- Steven McVeigh, former chief executive officer of Sakhalin Energy Investment Corp. in Moscow, Russia. McVeigh is a business consultant who worked 32 years in several domestic and international assignments for Shell Oil Co. and who pioneered several of the company's projects in Russia.

Dhanaraj hopes the event will lay the foundation for a new institute in the Kelley School that focuses on emerging markets which would draw upon the long-standing international area studies programs at IU.

Registration fee for the BRIC Symposium is $125 per person, or $500 for a group of five individuals from the same company. Please make checks payable to Indiana University. Deadline for registration is June 10. To register or for more information, go online to https://www.iubric.org or call 317-274-5694.

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