Zia Mody, lawyer and Managing Partner, AZB & Partners, said that she wants to see more young people in boardroom, taking corporate decisions.
At the ET CEO Roundtable 2024, Mody said that the ability to understand risk and reputation assessment has matured in the boardrooms. “I do not see a lot of young people or women on the Board. Whatever be the age, no one likes to be on the front page for wrong reasons,” she said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted India’s attractiveness for global businesses due to its skilled workforce and large market. Speaking at the Rising Rajasthan Investment Summit, he emphasized the government’s decisive nature and the transformative potential of AI, assuring that human intelligence will remain paramount.
However, Mody said that the younger generation coming into business are fantastic and have the passion for India. She added that the country has investors who are willing to back dreamers. “They are a new set of dreamers that the country gets excited about and is willing to back them with an idea. Some fail, and some have spectacular successes,” said Mody.
India’s growth is in the positive direction
Talking about India’s growth, Mody said that investments coming into India has increased in the last two years. “The sweet spot is the disaffection with China, seeing India’s growth story and seeing the success people have had.”
She added that strategics now do not see India as China plus one but India as India. Additionally, she said that the perception of ease of doing business in the country has to change. Things have to move faster and there must be a regulation to allow things to be more autopiloted that micromanaged.
Iran’s ambassador to India is working to boost trade and tourism. He aims to ease money transfers and establish stronger trade agreements. Visa-free travel for Indians to Iran is being promoted. The ambassador encourages Iranians to explore India’s culture and business opportunities. He also highlighted similarities between Iranian and Indian cuisine and expressed concern about the situation in Syria.
“Overall, if you ask me where is the balance? It is on the positive side,” Mody said.
Indian judiciary
The Managing Partner further said the law enforcement system is not unpredictable, it is just slow. We need to fill vacancies and physical infrastructure. “I have supreme faith in supreme court. The judgements, even if they are wrong are correct 90 per cent of times. The problem is that there is a perception that India is a tough country to get quick judgements.
She said that the problem was not with the judicial system but with the small number of judges who handle the large number of cases. ” We need 100 judges but there are only 50 and we do not have the space for another 50,” said Mody.
The business woman said that Supreme Court and High Court judges in India are a cut above the rest and that there was no problem in the faith of the judiciary but it was in the backlogs.
