The India-UK SME Business Meet 2013 The High Commission of India in London hosted the fourth India-UK SME Business Meet on November 18-19, 2013 in London. This SME Meet was held in continuation of the three earlier SME Meets i.e. in Birmingham, Loughborough and Cardiff in the year 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. This year, the High Commission of India convened the SME Business Meet in partnership with the UK India Business Council (UKIBC). It was further supported by leading Chambers and organisations from India, including the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), the SME Chamber of India and PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The SME Business Meet was well received, with around 150 participants attending the event, including distinguished guests and representatives from around 50 Indian companies and 90 UK companies. The SME Business Meet began with an inaugural session which was presided over by Dr Virander Paul, Acting High Commissioner of India to the UK, Mr. Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, Dr Harish Pal Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC and Mr Richard Heald, Chief Executive,. Dr Virander Paul, Acting High Commissioner to the UK welcomed the large gathering who participated in the SME Business Meet. While delivering the Keynote Address, Acting High Commissioner informed the participants about the progress made by the two countries in terms of trade and investment. He also spoke about how the Small and Medium enterprises are playing a major role in boosting the Indian economy. Mr Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, encouraged the UK companies to increase trade with India. He also suggested concrete SME initiatives which could be initiated by Business Councils of UK and India, thereby enabling the small and medium enterprises of both countries to explore and expand their businesses in each other’s domain. Mr Richard Heald, Chief Executive, UKIBC acknowledged the initiative taken by the High Commission of India and said that such an event could play the role of a major catalyst in promoting India-UK trade and investment. He also mentioned that UK companies stand to benefit by collaborating their upstream expertise with India’s abundant resources. Dr Harish Pal Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC, spoke about the large presence of NSIC across India through its 250 offices which could provide support to UK companies seeking to engage with Indian SMEs in India. The leaders of the various Indian delegations, including Mr T T Ashok, Co-Chairman, CII National Council on MSME and Mr Chandrakant Salunkhe, President, SME Chamber of India also addressed the participants and highlighted their role and responsibilities in promoting the Indian SMEs globally, especially to the UK. Following the inaugural of the SME Meet, two breakout sessions were conducted each for the Indian delegates and UK delegates respectively. The UK delegates attended the session on “How to do Business in India: Success Factors” where they got to hear from the panellists like Mr Mike Duggan, Partner, Corporate and Head of India Business Group, Addleshaw Goddard, Mr Unnikrishnan Nair, Senior International Commercial Manager, HSBC, Mr Mukesh Rajani, Leader – India Business Group, PwC, Mr Nick Wood, Head of Operations , Red Gate Software, Mr Richard McCallum, Managing Director – India, UKIBC and Mr Phil Sydenham, Deputy Head – Western India, UKTI. The session was moderated by Mr Kevin McCole, COO, UK India Business Council. The Indian delegates attended the session on “How to do Business in UK: Success Factors” where they got the opportunity to hear from the panellists like Mr Animesh Basu, Chief Executive, Artevea Digital Limited, Mr Nanda Mayampurath, Senior International Commercial Manager, HSBC, Mr Sandip Khroud, Associate – Corporate, Irwine Mitchell, Mr Vipul Vachani, Founder and CEO, Jaivel, Mr Jasbir Singh Khela, Director, PwC and Ms Kalyani Sethu, Head of India Market, UKTI. The session was moderated by Mr Steve Toogood, Director North West, UK India Business Council. Both inaugural and the breakout sessions were followed by active question and answers sessions from the participants. Following the breakout sessions, one-to-one B2B meetings were organized during which the visiting Indian delegates got the opportunity to network with the UK companies. The SME Business Meet witnessed a high networking among the delegates throughout the event. The objective of this SME Meet was to bring together the Indian and the UK SMEs together on the same platform in order to enhance stronger commercial ties between UK and India. On the sidelines of the SME Meet, company visits were organized for the Indian delegation in and around London. In the morning, the delegates got the opportunity to visit the Booker Group, UK’s leading food wholesaler. The delegates were informed about the advanced management techniques applied in their supply chain system and informed about the technology know-how which compliments their human resource. The Booker Group also informed the Indian delegates about their presence in India and has currently 12,000 customers in India. Following the forenoon visit, a luncheon meeting was hosted by Dr Virander Paul, Acting High Commissioner of India to the UK at India House, which was attended by the visiting delegations from India, the UK SME companies and representatives from the UK India Business Council and the High Commission of India. During the meeting, the Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, Dr Harish Pal Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC and Mr Richard Heald, Chief Executive, UKIBC spoke to the invitees about the SME Business Meet. Following the meeting, the Indian delegates got the opportunity to visit The Crystal – A Sustainable Cities, an initiative by Siemens. The Crystal, one of the world’s greenest buildings is the Institute of Competence of Siemens. During the visit, the delegates were given a 45 minute presentation by a Siemens representative, where the delegates were informed about the Crystal’s state of the art technology to make buildings more efficient. The delegation was later taken around the building to showcase the innovative models of sustainability designed by Siemens, with the objective of stimulating global thought leadership and dialog on urban sustainability. *****
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:07:32 +0000
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