NEW DELHI: DuPont (NYSE: DD) Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman will participate in upcoming leadership discussions in India with a range of global leaders from business, government and academia -- focusing on advancing innovation and collaboration to address the growing challenges associated with dramatic population growth.

Kullman will join U.S. President Barack Obama, Indian Prime Minister Singh, and other leaders in New Delhi for the upcoming US-India CEO Forum next week. Kullman also will co-chair the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit the following week.

Kullman was appointed to a two-year term on the US-India CEO Forum by President Obama in 2009. Kullman and other Forum members -- comprised of two dozen U.S. and Indian CEOs -- are expected to discuss opportunities for new partnerships between businesses in the United States and India, and how to promote investment and job growth. In addition, the CEOs will provide inputs to the US and Indian governments on concerns of business leaders of the two countries. The US-India CEO Forum was launched in 2005 and has met in both the United States and India.

"From New Delhi to New York, innovation and collaboration must be catalysts for positive change, especially around promoting free and fair trade, consistent regulatory frameworks and strong public-private partnerships," said Kullman.

"Dramatic population growth in the decades to come will demand increased food production, decreased dependence on fossil fuels and greater protection of people and the environment. DuPont looks to India and the United States as key partners in finding solutions to these global challenges," Kullman added.

For more than 200 years, DuPont has built strong and successful business relationships in India. Today, DuPont operates six Indian production facilities that serve several key industries, including agriculture. The company opened and expanded its DuPont Knowledge Center in Hyderabad, India, which includes the Biotechnology Research Center -- the first integrated agriculture and industrial biotechnology research center for DuPont outside the United States. The Knowledge Center operates three state-of-the-art research and development facilities focused on biotechnology, materials development and engineering design. The Knowledge Center is part of DuPont's global research capability that meets local needs with science-based innovations and collaborations to address among the biggest challenges facing today's growing global population: increasing food productivity, reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and protecting people and the environment.

DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.