It gives me a great pleasure in welcoming all of you on behalf of ICFAI University, Tripura and on my own behalf to this annual ASAF Conference. The theme of this conference is Asian Capital Markets – The Way Forward, perhaps the most appropriate theme at this point of time when several of the stock markets in Asia are competing with the world’s largest stock markets …

Let me give you a very brief background of the ICFAI University, Tripura. It is a statutory University established through an Act of State Legislature and approved by the University Grants Commission. The University believes in creating and disseminating knowledge and skills in core and frontier areas through innovative educational programs, research, consulting and publishing, and developing a new cadre of citizens with high level of competence and deep sense of ethics and commitment to the code of professional conduct.  The University offers graduate and postgraduate programs in management, finance, science and technology, information technology, education, law and other areas.

This is the second time that the ASAF conference is being organized in India. Our association with ASAF goes back a long way in time and we are privileged to host it once again.

We are happy to have with us today representatives from various ASAF member countries from Asia and Australia. We hope that our guests will have a delightful stay in India and New Delhi, a city which reflects India’s cultural diversity and history.

It is our privilege to have with us today Mr Damodaran, Chairman, Securities & Exchange Board of India and we look forward to hearing his thoughts. It is also our pleasure to have amongst us Dr Bill Kwok, Chairman, Asian Securities Analysts Federation to enlighten us with his vision of ASAF.   

The conference theme portrays the collective reflection of achievements and aspirations of the capital markets industry in this part of the world. We in Asia-Pacific region are living in truly momentous times. The region has become cynosure of the entire world, and all segments of the economy, the capital markets included, are contributing to make this happen. The contribution of capital markets is indeed especially significant because, in many of our countries, the growth has been achieved while working in economies where liberalization can still be considered to be a fairly recent phenomenon.  

The state of development of the capital markets in the vast Asia-Pacific region obviously varies from country to country. Yet, there are pan-Asian trends that are discernable. The challenges and experiences faced in countries that have progressed ahead, hold valuable lessons to those that follow. Some of those lessons will be brought forth in this conference.

The operation of capital markets are of course evaluated in gross terms, on a macro-economic perspective. However, if operating elements of the process are scrutinized, the pivotal character of the role played by individuals comes to fore. In the case of failures, the role of individuals receives intense attention, though, in the case of success, it remains unsung. Nevertheless, the success of capital markets is surely related to the role of individuals, particularly in terms of competence and credibility, and education and ethics. In this aspect, ASAF and its member societies have been providing significant service, and this conference is yet another effort in that direction.

Apart from the learning take away, this conference also provides a platform for reinforcing the network of individuals and institutions, which is so essential for continued development of the profession of security analysts. This conference also reinforces one of the major objectives of ASAF which is to bring together security analysts from this region on a common platform.

Once again, I welcome all of you to this conference and hope that you will find it to be very enriching experience.