Asia Pacific Conference

Welcome Note by

Shailesh Bhuta

Welcome To

Mumbai, India

All Delegates

Asia Pacific

KS International

I welcome K. S. I Asia Pacific conference delegates from four countries over and above delegates from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai

I cordially and heartily welcome Mr. Martin Burchmore a senior partner of Kingston Smith LLP from U.K.

I welcome Mr. Michael Martin partner of CPW group Pvt. Ltd., Australia, Mr. Zaker Ahmed & Mohitul Haq from Ahmed Zaker & Co., Bangladesh.

I extend my heartiest welcome to Mr. Karen Lin and Mr. Willy Huang from Chung Sun CPA from Taiwan.

Over and above this distinguished foreign delegates I welcome very coordially, heartily and warmly Padmashri and Past President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Mr. T. N. Manoharan and his two partners Mr. K.S. Yoganandh and Mr. V. Manoj from M/s. Manohar Chowdhary & Associates from Chennai.

I welcome very heartily our elder statesman and senior Chartered Accountant Mr. R. K. Mehra from Mehra Goel and Co., New Delhi

I also welcome Mr. Prakkash Muni, his partner Mr. Premal Gandhi and his colleagues Mr. Krushesh Thakkar and Mr. Hiren Muni and Mr. Arun Shah

Last but not the least, I welcome my partners Mr. Shailesh Parmar, Mr. Jitendra Shah, Mr. Mitesh Kothari and my colleagues Mrs. Harsha S. Parmar, Ms. Alka Sharma and Ms. Kanan Bhuta.

India has Population: 1..2 billion people – second most populous country. It also happens to be largest democracy in the world.

Major languages spoken: English, Hindi

Culture: A versatile customs and varied lifestyles with multiple languages, many religions

“India is an interesting combination - world class talent that can speak English and a strong technological expertise.”Tony Wright , Chairman- Lowe Worldwide, UK based international creative advertising agency.

India is 4th largest economy in the world in terms of PPP with a GDP of US$ 3.86 trillion.

India has the world's second largest labour force, with 516.3 million people.

Youth population in India as per the latest census report was 41.05%

Indian economy grew at 7.2% in 2009-10, with the industrial and the service sectors growing at 8.2% and 8.7% respectively.

India received FDI worth US$ 20.92 billion during April-December 2009, taking the cumulative amount of FDI inflows from Aug’91 to Dec’09 to US$ 127.46 billion.

As on March 2010, India's foreign exchange reserves totalled US$ 277.04 billion, an increase of US$ 24.71 billion over the same period last year.

Market capitalization of Indian Corporates on BSE is US$1.41 trillion.

Net tax revenue generation for F.Y 2009-10 was US$ 104 billion, which includes direct and indirect tax collection.

Recent big-ticket overseas acquisitions by Indian Multi National companies: India-based telecom company, Bharti Airtel, has

acquired the African assets of Kuwait-based Zain Telecom, in a US$ 10.7-billion deal which makes Bharti Airtel the world's fifth-largest mobile phone operator.

Tata Steel acquired UK- based Corus for about US$ 8 billion.

Hindalco has acquired Novelis for US$ 6 billion. Tata group acquired of Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover

The private equity and venture capital industry is likely to witness estimated investments worth $70-75 billion in 2010-2015 at existing growth rates. However, with proactive encouragement and incentives from the government, a $100-billion investment target is possible during this period, according to the data released by IDG Ventures India.

IT-ITeS: The overall Indian software and services industry revenue is estimated to have grown from US$ 10.2 billion in 2001-02 to reach US$ 58.7 billion in 2008-09—translating to a CAGR of about 26.9%.

Pharmaceutical: India's pharmaceutical industry is now the third largest in the world in terms of volume and 14th in terms of value. The leading Indian Pharmaceuticals companies are:

1) Piramal Healthcare was acquired by Abbot Laboratories for US$ 3.2 billion

2) Daichi- Sanko acquired shares of Ranbaxy Laboratories for US$ 4.6 billion for 64% of its stake

3) Sun Pharma

Retail: The Indian retail market, which is the 5th largest retail destination globally, has been ranked as the most attractive emerging market for investment in the retail sector.

Retail giants Carrefour SA and Walmart have entered india as there is emmense scope to cash-in on retail market as the organised retail market accounts for only 5% of US$ 450 billion.

Real Estate: The real estate sector is second only to agriculture in terms of employment generation and contributes heavily towards the GDP. India leads the pack of top real estate investment markets in Asia for 2010.

Media & Entertainment: The media and entertainment industry in India is likely to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% per annum over the period between 2009-13 and touch US$ 20.09 billion by 2013. Reliance Entertainment will pump in about US$ 1-2 billions in Steven Spielberg’s Company DreamWorks Inc. to jointly make Hollywood films

Textile: Indian textile industry contributes about 14% to industrial production, 4% to the country's GDP and 16.63% to export earnings.

Food Industry: The Indian food and beverages market is expanding rapidly and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 % during 2009-13 and reach US$ 580 billion by 2013. Pepsi Company which is headed by Indra Nooyi has also committed to pump in more than 500 million dollars in next few years in Indian operation. Pepsico had a great run last year with exceptional 40% growth in the Indian beverage business

Gems & Jewellery: The Indian gems and jewellery industry is the fastest growing jewellery market in the world. The domestic jewellery market in India is pegged at US$ 16 billion.

The FII investment in India stands at 77 billion dollars. The average assets under management of the mutual

fund industry stood at US$ 174.06 billion for the month of February 2010, an increase of nearly 36% from February 2009.

The RBI has the 10th largest gold reserves in the world after spending US$ 6.7 billion towards the purchase of 200 metric tonnes of gold from the IMF in November 2009.

India is the 5th largest life insurance market in the emerging insurance economies globally and the segment is growing at a healthy 32-34% annually.

1. Tata AIG 2. Bajaj Allianz 3. ICICI - Prudential

India's infrastructure sector will require US$ 1.7 trillion investment in the next 10-years.

According to the Planning Commission, US$ 19.6 billion will be invested in the ports sector during 2007-2012.

The US$ 18 billion Indian Railways industry has one of the largest developed networks in the world. The private investment in railways could increase from the current US$ 217.88 million to US$ 1.08 billion in the next three years.

India has the world's second largest road network, aggregating over 3.34 million kilometers. The potential investment in the sector is expected to be to the tune of US$ 107 billion in next 5 years.

The services sector has been at the forefront of the rapid growth of the Indian economy, contributing nearly 63% of the GDP.

India’s education sector presents an investment potential of US$ 100 billion over the next five years.

The services sector accounted for a huge 24.3% of the total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in 2008. In actual terms, the FDI inflow to this sector has grown 32 times in the past five years to US$ 6.78 billion in 2008.

Changing paradigm of the corporate and tax laws: Direct Tax Code

Goods and Service Tax

IFRS

LLP / Companies Law

A number of studies have indicated that the KPO field is expected to grow by 45% by the year 2010, and of the $16 billion that will be generated by this industry, over half of it will come from India.

India will overtake China as the fastest-growing economy in the world. Driven by a projected double digit annual growth Indian GDP is set to quadruple over the next ten years and the country is likely to be a Rs.205-trillion (USD 4.5 trillion) economy by 2020.

India will become the largest English-speaking nation in the world, overtaking the US.

India will also be the fifth largest maker of, as well as market for, cars.

India will account for 10% to 12% of world economic growth, the country will become a gigantic magnet for the world's companies that will come to do business.

India is poised to take over the developed countries to emerge at the top of the heap in the global economic superpower league by 2030, says a survey.

A well known firm of Chartered Accountants based in India rendering professional services since 1986.

Employs around 100 people under the supervision of 5 partners, 3 associates and 11 qualified Chartered Accountants. Personnel include CAs, MBAs, CS, LLBs, and Graduates.

2,400 sq. ft. office with state-of-the-art infrastructure, situated in Nariman Point, world’s 5th most expensive office location.

Taxation Tax Planning Tax Compliance Representation

Appellate Proceedings International Taxation

Transfer Pricing Cross-border

structuring Tax treaty advisory

Audit & Assurance Statutory Audits Management Audits Inspection / Special Audits

Corporate Advisory Corporate structuring Accessing Capital Markets Merger & Amalgamation Arbitration and

Conciliation

I am glad to have you all here and wish you a pleasant stay in India.

I hope that the conference would prove to be mutually beneficial interaction and a stepping stone for long term sustainable development of the participants.

“India's rapid growth rates and its ‘large pool of educated and skilled English-speaking workers’ make it an attractive partner.”Sajjad Karim - UK Member of the European Parliament