New York: Walmart Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke has said that he will be "patient" and is confident that things will work out in India for the company. His statement came amid the political uproar in India over opening of the multi-brand retail sector as well as lobbying efforts by the retail giant. "I still believe that in India things will work out. I am confident that (India) is a country that has such an opportunity to help both the farmers, those that are producing products for consumers all the way through the supply chain to the consumer," Duke said at a Council on Foreign Relations event organised in New York on Tuesday on 'The Responsibility to Lead'.
He was responding to a question on how India fits into the international priority markets for Walmart given the country's mixed response to opening of its retail sector. The Walmart president said that having travelled to India a number of times, he "really feels for the people of India because the people of India are missing on the opportunity right now because of the inefficiencies of the supply chain and so many of the challenges.
"But I am patient and I believe that overtime the process will get work out in India. That we can help people live a better life in India also," he added. Duke said in the next 10-50 years, the emerging middle class in countries like India, China and Latin America will be the "real opportunity for Walmart from a business standpoint".
"These big emerging markets where there are a lot of people, where there will be an emerging consumer over the next decade will be our greatest priority," he said. The Indian government had on Tuesday offered to hold an inquiry into allegations of payment made by US retail giant Walmart in India but it did not cut much ice with the Opposition which demanded a time-bound probe by either a Joint Parliamentary Committee or judiciary.
Walmart has 1,00,000 suppliers, 2.2 million employees globally and had recorded $440 billion in sales in 2011. Duke's appearance at the New York event was met by demonstrations and protests over its labour practises and wages. Duke termed as "absolutely painful" the allegations levelled against his company in November of bribery and violations of anti-corruption law in Mexico, India and Brazil.
"We take those allegations very very seriously. The investigation is ongoing". He said Walmart's audit committee is working with the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission on the investigation into the bribery allegations. "We will take the appropriate action upon the conclusion of this investigation. We are not waiting. We use every experience like this to try and be a better company, we will raise the bar and use this to make Walmart an even better company...," he said.
He added the company has put in place additional measures to ensure better compliance and "this focus will make us a better company regardless of the outcome of the investigation".
On the recent fire in a Bangladesh apparel factory, which allegedly supplied clothes to Walmart, Duke said the particular factory had been decertified and Walmart did not use it as a supplier of its clothes. He added that Walmart had done extensive work in Bangladesh over the years to improve the safety of factories, including putting in place better fire safety measures.
In 2010 Walmart terminated business with 94 factories that did not meet the company's standards and helped raise safety standards in 23 other factories. He said about 3,000 factories in Bangladesh went through training, including for fire safety.
"We will not buy from an unsafe factory. This is not a price discussion," he said. "If a factory is not going to operate with high standards then we would not purchase from that factory. There's no discussion about pricing."
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