Chapter 2414 Bold Prediction
In the banquet hall of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, the Diwali holiday had just ended and a high-end meeting had already begun.
The organizer of the meeting was the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which is the largest and oldest chamber of commerce organization in India. It has more than 1,500 corporate members and more than 83,000 indirect members of chambers of commerce in commercial areas.
As the most influential chamber of commerce organization in India, its history can be said to be closely linked to the development history of India.
It not only represents the voice of Indian industry and commerce, but also actively seeks to influence national policies. The publications they publish have always been widely read and studied in depth, and used as policy prescriptions.
The strength of this chamber of commerce can be seen from the lineup of guests in the audience. The former richest man in India and the former richest man in Britain, the founder of Mittal Steel, the world's steel tycoon Mittal, the current richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Group, and Ratan Tata, the head of India's largest business group Tata Group...
And many well-known businessmen and officials who came from New Delhi, the capital of India, Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, and Chennai, Hyderabad and other Indian industrial and commercial centers.
It can be said that this is the highest-level meeting of the Indian business community in the Indian New Year.
The reason why so many business tycoons gathered here is naturally to discuss how to deal with the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis from the United States on India.
Although the situation in the United States seems to be relatively stable at present, the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on these Indian business tycoons has been very strong.
The reason why the steel tycoon Mittal is no longer the richest man in Britain and India is that his company's stock price has fallen sharply due to the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Mittal's steel empire mainly comes from large-scale mergers and acquisitions. Since it is a merger and acquisition, financing is naturally required.
For example, last year, Mittal completed the acquisition of Arcelor, the largest steel company in Europe and the second largest in the world, which was formed by the merger of the three largest steel companies in Europe, Luxembourg's Albeid Steel, Spain's Acelaria Steel, and France's Northern Steel.
The acquisition price was as high as 34.3 billion US dollars.
Due to the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis, banks are now short of money, and Mittal Steel, which has a high debt ratio, is naturally not favored by investors at this time.
But Mukesh Ambani, who succeeded him as the richest man in India, is not much better. From February this year to now, his wealth has also shrunk by nearly 20%.
The other Indian tycoons present are also no exception. Because of the stock market turmoil caused by subprime mortgages, their wealth has also shrunk.
But the most uncomfortable thing is that this trend is still ongoing, that is, everyone is watching their wealth decrease day by day, but they can't see the end. For them, there is really nothing more painful than this.
"...Increasing the company's cash reserves is the best way for us to deal with this crisis. Thank you!" Mittal, who was the second to come on stage after Ratan Tata, ended his speech with more obvious wrinkles on his forehead.
But he did not come down from the stage immediately. The host of the meeting, Singh, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, walked to the microphone and said, "Now, welcome our special guests, world-renowned entrepreneurs and business experts..."
His welcome speech was immediately interrupted by warm applause. Feng Yiping, who was in the front row of the stage, stood up with a smile and shook hands with Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani next to him, and greeted the guests in the venue.
When he walked up to the stage, Mittal, who was waiting on the stage, smiled and greeted him warmly. The two also whispered a few words intimately. During this process, the applause from the audience continued. Mittal even waited until Feng Yiping stood on the podium before leaving the stage. It can be said that he, the special guest, was the most popular and most concerned guest of this conference.
The main reason is naturally because of the warning issued by Feng Yiping years ago. Like many people in the world, the signed article he published in the January issue of Frontier magazine has recently been read again and again by the bigwigs in the Indian business community.
There are not just one or two people who regret not taking it seriously at the beginning.
At this time when the wealth of almost all of them is shrinking, they most want to hear Feng Yiping, the person who predicted this crisis, express his views on this crisis.
Is it over, or is it just beginning?
"Thank you, thank you for your applause," Feng Yiping stood behind the microphone and looked at the pairs of expectant eyes in the audience.
At his current point, it is like this, leisure is only temporary, and one job after another is the norm.
"I know what everyone is most concerned about. I regret to tell you that Mr. Laden, Mr. Mittal and I have the same view on this issue. The subprime mortgage crisis is far from over. The negative impact it will bring to us will continue for some time. My personal prediction is that overall, our situation will only become more difficult in the next 2008."
The reason why he agreed to attend such a meeting was mainly because he saw the development of the Indian market, so it was necessary to improve his reputation in front of Indian industrial and commercial representatives.
After hearing his words, although it was expected, many people in the audience still couldn't help showing disappointment.
That is, everyone's wealth will still shrink!
"But we should also see the positive side," Feng Yiping followed.
"The current stock market turmoil is mainly caused by the hot money from Europe and the United States selling off their Indian stocks,"
At this time, all companies naturally tend to withdraw all their funds and hold them in their hands.
At a time when banks are generally short of money, cash is king is a simple truth.
"But fundamentally speaking, India's economic situation is still good. We all know that India's economy has been growing rapidly recently and has attracted a large amount of foreign direct investment. So from this perspective, the Indian stock market will still be a safe place to invest now and in the future,"
"Because from a design point of view, India's financial system is still a semi-closed system. Under normal circumstances, this will certainly increase our costs to a certain extent, but in such a crisis, it can ensure that India's financial system will not be as greatly impacted as the financial systems of Europe and the United States. This is naturally a very favorable factor,"
The audience began to whisper to each other, which is indeed a good phenomenon.
This means that, relatively speaking, India's liquidity shortage will not be as serious as that of European and American countries. Banks are not short of money, and it is relatively easy for them to raise funds, so their lives will naturally be much better.
"...At the same time, we should also see the positive side,"
"At present, because European and American financial institutions are currently suffering from various problems, this will naturally affect the outsourcing industry's orders in this regard,"
"But from a positive perspective, European and American companies affected by the subprime mortgage crisis will do everything possible to reduce costs, and the Indian software industry, due to its industrial scale and labor quality advantages, must be the best place for European and American companies to seek offshore services. So I believe that in the future, we will receive more outsourcing business,"
"...There will be an impact, but it will definitely be smaller than we expected, and the time will be shorter. There will also be difficulties, but they are also only temporary,"
"So, I think I can answer the question that everyone is most concerned about. I think that by this time in 2009 at the latest, the subprime mortgage crisis will not be our problem,"
The reason why he said it so confidently is that he clearly remembered that at the end of the year when Obama took office, Wall Street once again issued huge bonuses of up to tens of billions of dollars to employees, and he had a big conflict with Wall Street.
Since Wall Street could issue bonuses of tens of billions of dollars at that time, then by the end of 2009, their lives would have become better again, and the subprime mortgage crisis would definitely have ended by then.
Including Bin Laden, the people in the audience were a little bit unbelievable at this time, because at this time, no one dared to say such words.
"I have full confidence in the companies of all of you and the development of the Indian economy. India..." The warm applause interrupted Feng Yiping's speech.
Some people in the audience even stood up at this time.
The crisis will end before the end of 2009! Such news is naturally worth their joy.
Bin Laden and others looked at Feng Yiping in surprise. They really admired him for daring to say such words in such an occasion. This is the courage of the skilled!
Mittal stood up, Bin Laden also stood up, and then Ambani also stood up...
Feng Yiping looked at the audience calmly. Since he wanted to improve his reputation, he naturally had to make such a bold statement.
When the applause died down, he finished his last sentence, "Whether it is this year, next year or the year after, India will always be the key market for my company's investment."
The applause suddenly became more enthusiastic...
ps: As of today, this is the only way to deal with this month's receivables, so starting from tomorrow, we will add more chapters for our new leader Sidneyliu, and look forward to your monthly ticket support!