MR JEANNOT KRECKE, Minister of Economy and Trade, Luxembourg.

Corporate wars are no less than regular warfare where early information about the opponent's plans help strategise better. So, it was not surprising that Mr L. N. Mittal's `men' were all over the venue where the visiting Luxembourg's Minister for Economy and Foreign Trade, Mr Jeannot Krecke, had his media interactions while in the capital this week. Mittal Steel's bid for taking over Arcelor, the international steel giant, was on the top of the agenda, both during Mr Krecke's meetings with Ministers and the media. A host of people from the corporate agency looking after Mr Mittal's PR here were eagerly waiting outside one five-star hotel where Mr Krecke and the Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, addressed a joint press conference. As media persons came out of the conference, they were, for once, mobbed to find out what had transpired inside. Not content with that, another group from the same corporate communication agency was stationed well before the media arrived for Mr Krecke's solo press conference at another hotel. Here, they did one better — they offered a list of questions to be asked. When the scribes refused, the next request was carry a tape recorder. Needless to say, most media persons declined this too.

OUR DELHI BUREAU

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