Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General, World Trade Organisation, recently spoke to BT's E. Kumar Sharma on issues before the WTO.

What are your expectations from the Cancun inter-ministerial summit in September this year?

We expect the Cancun meet to be a success. The work programme will now get intensive and the members must now give a major push to the negotiations so that by the time of the Cancun meet we begin to see clarity in negotiating positions.

The developing countries have been complaining about the US and EU's protection to agriculture. How do you hope to get this issue resolved?

As a first step members need to agree by the end of March on the targets for further liberalisation in the areas of market access, export subsidisation and domestic support.

Do you think America's proposal to lower tariffs on industrial goods to zero is feasible?

It is only a proposal, but a courageous one, as it would mean going ahead and implementing it also. For this, America will have to discuss it and take the member countries along with it and get them to agree to it first.

-Vinod Mahanta

Q&A-I
"9-11 Has Changed Our Attitude To Risk"

He is Swiss Re's Chief Economist and the editor of Sigma, Swiss Re's research publication. On a roadshow to India, Thomass Hess spoke to BT's Roshni Jayakar on trends in the insurance industry. Excerpts:

How did 9-11 impact the reinsurance industry?

It resulted in massive underwriting losses, and accelerated price or premium increases in the international commercial risk and reinsurance markets. Terms and conditions for risk insurance have been tightened.

Has it changed the way you look at business?

9-11 was something extraordinary. The industry had unintentionally insured the unthinkable. As the industry was hit both on asset side and investment side, it changed our attitude to risk. The terrorist attack revealed weaknesses in the industry regarding terrorism cover and pricing of that cover. Now, we scan policies for terror risk and depending on situations, we limit the scope of cover, tighten terms and conditions and keep risk in line with capacity, so that in case of an event, we are able to pay.

How do you view India as a market?

We as reinsurers have to manage the future and part of the future lies in India.

Q&A-II
"Everything Legal Isn't Ethical"

Douglas Henck heads Sun Life Financial in Asia and is also a director on the board of Birla Sun Life Insurance. In India recently, Henck spoke to BT's Roshni Jayakar on corporate governance. Excerpts:

Sun Life is a corporate sponsor of Asian Corporate Governance Association. What role is this body playing especially in the context of corporate failures in the US?

The association is trying to promote good corporate governance practices. As regulators all over Asia are framing regulation on corporate governance, the association is often asked to give inputs.

What is critical in good governance?

You need to have independent directors and transparency in accounts. Regulations can help you get you there. But at the end of the day it boils down to ethics of the leadership of the company.

What are the lessons from the failures in the US?

To me, the lesson from America is, if you go with the notion that whatever is legal is ethical, then you are on the wrong track.

5-2
Lousy Cricket, But Who Cares
The Indian team may have been taken to the cleaners by New Zealand, but advertisers aren't unduly worried.

Dravid goes: Another one gone, another one gone, another one...

These words are being written shortly after India, after a promising revival in the fifth and the sixth one-day internationals against New Zealand, has just lost the seventh. One would expect advertisers and sponsors to take a long hard look at the cost-benefit equation before launching their ICC World Cup (it is scheduled for February-March) linked campaigns-one would be wrong.

As this magazine goes to press there seems to be no letting up in the number of companies putting their marketing all in cricket-related campaigns. The Rs 600 crore in advertising and promotional spends that was expected to be burnt in relation to the event will still be. "If soccer could lift the sales of televisions," says Rajeev Karwal, Senior Vice President, Philips India, who will soon take over as CEO of Electrolux, "there is no reason the cricket world cup shouldn't deliver." Karwal's reference is to 2002's FIFA World Cup in which India's participation was restricted to a line-referee.

The dejection of the average Indian cricket fan is not apparent in any of the deals the two Indian broadcasters of the event. SET Max and Doordarshan are scripting. "The performance of the Indian team is a non-issue," says Rohit Gupta, Executive Vice President, Sales & Revenue Management, SET Max. ''We have signed on six of the seven sponsors, and all our live features have been sold out.''

Hindustan Lever Limited has bought sponsorship slots on both channels for two of its power brands-the first time the FMCG behemoth has chosen to do so in a live cricket broadcast. And reports suggest that both broadcasters have less than a third of airtime left to sell. "The view among advertisers is that the World Cup is too big an opportunity to ignore,'' says Sandeep Vij, President, Optimum Media Solutions. Still, the Indian team's dismal show in New Zealand could drive down advertising tarrifs by 10 per cent, claims C.V.L. Srinivas, coo, Madison Communications, ''but everything depends on the demand-supply situation closer to the World Cup.'' Expect advertisers, then, to be more concerned about how much the competition is spending than Sachin's recent batting record.

-Shailesh Dobhal

HEADHUNTING
Two For The Road
Sports or business, if you rest on your laurels, you could soon find yourself out.

Sourav (left) and Bianchi: Under siege

Just about three years ago, the two men this piece is about took charge of their organisations. Both started well and were hailed saviours. Recently, though, both have floundered, one has received an axe of sorts, and the other's fate hangs in balance. Cricket and autos may be as different as calcium carbonate and Gouda, but Fiat India's outgoing MD Maurizio P. Bianchi and the Indian cricket team's captain Sourav Ganguly do have a lot in common. Fiat claims Bianchi's move to Turin is reward for his showing- sales grew from 13,488 units in 2001 to 32,111 in 2002-but auto industry vets point to the Palio's plunging sales (from about 3,500 a month in end-2001 to just over 1,100 in end-2002) and Siena's failed relaunch as the reason for his exit. If Bianchi failed to notice Palio's fading appeal, Ganguly misread the pace-friendly New Zealand pitches. He's still around, though.

-Shailesh Dobhal