Moderator Sean M. Cleary, Chairman, Strategic Concepts, South Africa, outlined the six key risks identified as most relevant to India by the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Network and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Three risks lie within the control of the Indian government: the economic impact of demographics, the loss of freshwater and infectious diseases, while the other three risks, economic shocks and oil peaks, globalization vs protectionism and climate change, lie outside the government's control.
Cleary emphasized the interconnectedness of these risks and explained: “Risk is not identical to threat – risk lies on the cusp between threat and opportunity. The challenge when addressing risk is to turn it into an opportunity.”
The demographic challenge attracted considerable comment from the panellists. Over half of India's population is under 25 years of age. Within a decade, the working population will peak at 800 million people, posing huge challenges in terms of creating employment and training workers.
Shamsher S. Mehta, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India, said “The rest of the world is ageing – India is in a position to provide the world's workforce.” To do this will require huge investment in human capital, yet “our education system has come unstuck … and vocational training is seen as a failure.”
Calling for India's educational system to be “put on fast-track”, Mehta argued that India's demographic surge must be converted into an opportunity, cautioning that “these 10 years are never going to come again”.
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