New Delhi: Public Affairs Forum of India’s (PAFI) flagship event— 9th Annual Forum 2022, is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 22nd –23rd September this year. This year’s in-person event will be based on the theme ‘India@100—Scale, Speed, and Sustainability’. Over 75 panellists’, representing government, industry, media and civil society, would share their insights during 13 sessions, spread over two days.
PAFI’s Annual Forum will set the direction for long-term policy and economic agenda resulting from active participation, dialogues and interaction among a wide range of stakeholders.
Some of the important ministers who will join the event include, Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs; Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology; Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers; Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Labour and Employment; Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development; and Electronics and Technology; Thangam Thennarasu, Minister for Industries, Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture, Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu; and Amitabh Kant, Sherpa, G20.
Several other senior secretaries to the government will also be sharing their views on issues ranging from tourism to health and trade & investment during the sessions. The panellists include senior secretaries such as Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation; S Aparna, Secretary, Pharmaceuticals; Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism; Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT; Rohit K Singh, Secretary, Consumer Affairs; Govind Mohan, Secretary, Culture; Dammu Ravi, Secretary, Economic Relations, External Affairs; Alkesh Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology; and S Krishnan, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries, Investment Promotion & Commerce Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu, India’s second-largest state economy that accounts for 9.84 per cent of the country’s GDP is the Partner State for this year’s Annual Forum. A variety of sectors, including electronics, IT, automobiles, textiles, chemicals, leather, etc, are thriving in the state as a result of the highest number of factories and industrial workers, investment-friendly policies, and a focus on skilling, according to a report prepared by IBEF.
PAFI is committed to raising and maintaining public affairs standards to enable professionals to gain recognition and credibility by bringing about a paradigm shift in how businesses engage with stakeholders such as the government, media, civil society, and academia.
It also strives to deepen and broaden its talent pool in order to develop young leaders from diverse backgrounds, while expanding its footprint across India. PAFI has been actively promoting and upholding transparency, probity, inclusion, and diversity across the broader remit of the Public Affairs Profession, which includes Policy Advocacy, Government Relations, Corporate Communications, and Corporate Social Responsibility, since its inception in 2008.
The Forum serves as a cross-sector networking platform for public affairs professionals, offering them opportunities to interact with one another as well as key policymakers and influencers through evidence-based research, closed-door dialogues, interactive panel discussions, seminars, and an annual lecture at its national forum.