Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak and his Indian counterpart Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the two-day Economic Times Asian Business Leaders' Conclave here starting Dec 14, 2016.

The event will be a platform for the biggest business leaders of Asia along with bureaucrats to converge and facilitate conversations on Asia as a business hub and the role of the rising business leaders.

In a statement today, ET Edge said the gathering of the heads of the most successful corporations in the region aspired to become the seminal annual event for deliberating the course businesses need to take as they seek to make Asia the business hub of the world.

The Mumbai-based Economic Times is India's leading business newspaper published simultaneously in 12 Indian cities.

ET Edge is an Economic Times initiative founded to empower multiple industries and segments by sharing critical business knowledge through focused exhibitions and strategic conferences and summits.

Over the past decade, Asia has been home to some of the world's fastest-growing economies and can now boast of major contributions to global growth.

ET Edge said this clearly established the region as a predominant player in the world economy, with China flexing its economic might, while other Asian countries such as India, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Saudi Arabia also demonstrating strong growth.

Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large and Executive Deputy Chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Ong Keng Yong; and Tan Tao University President & ASEAN Business Advisory Council member Dang Thi Hoang Yen will espouse on how ASEAN becomes a global fulcrum of manufacturing and one of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets.

With regional businesses seeking to deepen ties and capture an even greater share of global trade, ASEAN's economic profile is rising, making a crucial piece of the global economic jigsaw, ET Edge said.

The event has been endorsed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and supported by the Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia, ASEAN India Business Council, and Malaysia India Business Council.

-- BERNAMA