I was privileged to address the opening plenary session of the India-International Salt Summit 2010 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, sharing the session with the hosts -- S. Sundaresan, India's Salt Commisioner and leaders of the India Salt Manufacturers Association, President Hiralal Parakh and chairman P.B. Anandam. The featured speaker for the event was Gujarat's Chief Minister (equivalent to a U.S. state governor or Canadian provincial premier) Shri Narenda Modi.

Mr. Sundarsesan called for the 10th International Salt Symposium to be hosted in India in 2016 and predicted India's salt production would double in the next decade. Chief Minister Modi gave an exceptionally enlightened and detailed address advocating measures to support his state's salt industry -- the largest in India (itself, the world's third-largest salt producer).

My opening remarks (pdf 76.91 kB) identified three "global challenges" threatening full enjoyment of salt benefits: environment, safety and mobility, and health outcomes of dietary salt. I called for action by the salt industry to 1) stay informed about policy and technical developments, 2) remain a credible participant in the public policy debate by "speaking the truth," and 3) align salt industry advocacy with the public interest. "We must have a laser-like focus on performance, on outcomes, on actual operations of the systems that use salt."

An international audience of about 400 attended the three day conclave. Included were representatives from Tata Chemicals (India), Hub-Pak (Pakistan), China National Salt Industry Corporation (China) and Industria Salinera de Yucatan (Mexico). Here I am visiting with Ismail Suttar, CEO of Hub-Pak.