Narayana Murthy favours MNCs in retail

N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor, Infosys, when asked by Karan Thapar on “Devil’s Advocate” programme on CNN-IBN, if he believes Foreign Direct Investment should be permitted in the Indian retail sector, said:

“Absolutely. When we have opened it (retail sector) to large Indian groups, which means that the mom and pop stores are likely to suffer anyway, why not open it to large multinationals.”

“MNCs would bring best technology and practices and at the end of the day, the consumer benefits.”

Mumbai to host International Retail Convention in March, 2007

Retailers Association of India (RAI), representing the organised segment of the retail trade in India, is organising “Indian International Retail Convention 2007″ in Mumbai, on March 1 and 2. The covention will be held at the NSE grounds in Goregaon, Mumbai.

The convention has the support of national retail organisations of various countries, including, the National Retail Federation (NRF), US; Euro Commerce, Europe; Austrade, Australia; and China General Chamber of Commerce, China.

Ms Tracy Mullin, President and CEO, NRF, and Mr Xavier Durien, Secretary-General, Euro Commerce, according to reports, have consented to attend the convention, which is likely to attract about 1,500 delegates and 4,000 visitors.

The convention will provide platform to Indian and international retailers to meet, understand each other, evaluate mutual strengths, explore opportunities and forge business relationships in different business segments of the fastest growing retail market in the world.

India, it may be recalled, for the second consecutive year, has been ranked first as the most the attractive retail destination among 30 emerging markets in the AT Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index (GRDI 2006).