By Sachin Murdeshwar

Mumbai: Thirty-three-year-old Indian-origin businessman, Mr.  Vivek Salgaocar has joined the coveted list of Forum of Young Global Leaders Class of 2020. Despite being part of a large, family-owned conglomerate with a rich heritage in several industries, Salgaocar is creating his own legacy by actively working towards, and supporting the creation and commercialisation of innovative technologies for the mining and natural resources industries in a sustainable and socially responsible way.

Forum of Young Global Leaders Class of 2020 was started in 2004 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab. Alongside Salgaocar, 113 other activists, academics, and political leaders from 51 countries also join the list. Some of this years inductees include the Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, Captain of the World Cup winning US Women’s Soccer team and gender rights activist Megan Rapinoe, and the Kristo Co-Founder and CEO of peer-to-peer money transfer business TransferWise.

Speaking on the news of joining the forum, Mr Salgaocar, Director, Vimson Group, said “It’s a tremendous honour to be included among such an illustrious global community of young leaders. The group reflects a confluence of industry, policy, and advocacy that will go a long way in making the world a more liveable place” Vimson Group is a family-owned enterprise with interests in mineral resources, real estate and financial services. The group is also actively involved in community initiatives in healthcare and sports. “The program will greatly aid my quest to improve operating efficiencies through innovation in what’s often seen as a traditional industry with low technological penetration,” he added.

Mr Salgaocar will join the new class in a five-year programme, from March 2020. The programme will have executive education courses, expeditions and opportunities to engage experienced people. The Forum of Young Global Leaders has over the years grown into membership of more than 1,300 members and alumni. The YGL program has been aligned with the World Economic Forum’s mission to spur public-private cooperation to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest. The forum now represents more than 100 nationalities. It firmly believe that the urgent problems of contemporary times present an opportunity to forge a better future across sectors, generations and borders.

Tech titan Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba, Mr Jimmy Wales, founder of online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio have been earlier honoured by the Forum. Other notable alumni includes Nobel Prize winner in economics, Dr Michael Kremer and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.