Peaceful Environment Essential For Business Growth

What this session covered

This NISSMAT international webinar addressed the theme that a peaceful environment is essential for business growth. An opening address from the host set the subject in context, describing the maintenance of law and order and economic growth as closely linked, and outlining two schools of thought on their relationship — one holding that a peaceful environment enables economic growth, the other that economic development itself fosters peace — which were presented as complementary rather than opposed. The session was moderated and featured two invited speakers followed by a question-and-answer session. The two speakers approached the theme from different vantage points, one from an internal-security and law-enforcement background and the other from corporate risk management.

One speaker treated terrorism as the principal threat to a peaceful environment and as a major impediment to business growth, discussing its changing methods, the role of drug money in financing violence, and economic disparity as a driver of unrest. This speaker argued that national security now rests substantially on economic strength and technological capability alongside military capacity, and pointed to a range of security domains — among them border, cyber and disaster security — as relevant to a stable business climate. The speaker's view was that India's internal-security situation had improved in recent years across several regions, including Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east, and that the country was well placed to attract investment.

The second speaker offered a corporate perspective, distinguishing between different forms of violence and describing how political instability can escalate rapidly when poorly handled, drawing on recent developments in Hong Kong and the role of social media. This speaker set out recurring weaknesses in how large multinational firms manage political risk abroad — among them matrix management structures, the loss of experienced staff through re-engineering, frequent rotation of expatriate managers, over-reliance on technical solutions, and the payment of extortion demands — and proposed a checklist of internal controls in response. The moderated discussion that followed considered how terrorism might be prevented, with reference to coordinated enforcement, intelligence and administrative measures in Punjab; the interrelationship of peace and economic growth; and socio-political problems encountered in the course of police duty.

Key points raised

• The webinar's central theme framed law and order, peace and economic growth as interrelated, drawing on two complementary schools of thought about which enables the other.
• One speaker characterised terrorism as the principal threat to a peaceful business environment, and discussed narco-terrorism and the financing of violence through drug money.
• The same speaker argued that national security increasingly depends on economic strength and technology alongside military capability, and cited what he saw as an improved internal-security picture across several Indian regions.
• A corporate-security perspective set out recurring weaknesses in how multinational firms manage political risk abroad, and offered a checklist of internal controls in response.
• The prevention of terrorism was discussed with reference to Punjab, involving coordinated enforcement, intelligence and administrative action.
• The discussion noted how political instability can escalate rapidly, and the role of social media, drawing on recent events in Hong Kong.