Announcing INDOPAC: major new business group to confront issues of Indo/Asia/Pacific region.

India meets Asia in major new economic forum

Advisory council formed of leading Australian, Asian and Indian business leaders and companies. Australian publisher Peter Charlton the brainchild behind INDOPAC; former Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced as council patron and will attend first meeting.

The first forum planned to be held in New Delhi in January next year (2009).

INDOPAC--THE INDO-PACIFIC FORUM

India's great importance as a major and developing economy, with that of China, has seen the establishment of INDOPAC, an India-Asia Business Forum designed to tackle the issues of the important and vital Indo-Pacific region.

Australian publisher Peter Charlton has founded INDOPAC to act as an essential international forum for business leaders, working with government and civil society, to share their thinking on new ways to grow regional economies rapidly and sustainab]y.

The council of INDOPAC is made up of leading Australian, Asian and Indian business leaders and companies, including:

--Peter Charlton, Chairman, First Charlton Communications, Australia

--Patron: John Howard--former Australian Prime Minister

--Roger Corbett, former CEO, Woolworths, Australia

--Ken Cowley, Chairman R.M. Williams, Director-Main Board News Ltd., Australia

--Phil Burgess--Group Managing Director Public Policy & Communications, Telstra, Australia

--Ted Pretty--chairman, Fujitsu Australia

--Arthur Sinodinos--Regional General Manager-Finance, Strategy, Wealth--NAB, Australia

--Ratan Tata--Tata Holdings, India

--Executive Director: Ken Waller--APEC Business Centre, Australia

INDOPAC established as growth occurs in the region

Charlton said INDOPAC was formed because of the need for a distinctive Indo-Pacific analysis of global issues.

"INDOPAC will focus on the phenomenal pace and scale of development in the region from India across to China and Japan and south to Australasia, anchored by the world's two largest nations and encompassing over half the world's population," Charlton says.

"Business in this region is mobilising human, physical and energy resources on a scale rarely equalled in history, with an unprecedented impact on the rest of humanity and the environment."

The agenda of INDOPAC and its objectives

"INDOPAC's critical objective is to influence thinking on ways in which business can deliver prosperity and promote the common interests of all communities that comprise this great and diverse region," Charlton says. It will do this:

--Through interaction between influential leaders and thinkers in the region, and from elsewhere

--In a discreet atmosphere which stimulates free exchange of ideas

--Without pressure to reach agreement or endorse recommendations

"The forum presents views and opinions from within and without the region on the economic, business, political, strategic, demographic, environmental and cultural opportunities and challenges that are clearly emerging as the Indopac region gathers pace and importance, and assume a central prominence in global affairs," Charlton says.

"The Indo-Pacific region is the fastest growth region in the world with an increasing share of economic wealth and power. With well over half of the world's population, the region's demand for energy, services and products on a massive and increasing scale, and how the region shapes its economic and social policies and how it develops its relations with the rest of the world pose significant challenges and opportunities.

"The region will become a new supplier of labour in the next two or three decades and this will impact on labour and migration policies in many countries. The region's infrastructure needs are enormous; mobilizing savings and managing projects will be a major determinant of the region's growth prospects."

Management of INDOPAC

INDOPAC, a private sector initiative, will have a high level Advisory Council of regional business leaders to provide strategic direction to the creation of the agenda for each annual conference and to ensure a longer-term directional focus, as well as a small permanent and highly skilled secretariat to ensure that INDOPAC's affairs are effectively and efficiently administered.

"INDOPAC will be unique amongst international gatherings. It will be based firmly in the Indo-Pacific region and look outward from there," Charlton says.

"It will showcase the best thinkers from the region, as well as those from other parts of the world who can contribute to the development of strategies for the region."

An invitation is extended to businesses everywhere in the region to support INDOPAC.

For further information please contact Beata Bakonska on [phone].

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]