New Delhi, October 16, 2014 –
Cities: Sweden: Stockholm and Malmo; Netherlands: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague
Brief of activities:
A senior level delegation from Gujarat concluded on Friday, a week long business and education focused visit, as part of Vibrant Gujarat 2015, to Sweden and The Netherlands in Europe. The delegation was led by 1989 Batch IAS Officer, Mr. AK Rakesh, who is currently the Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gujarat Maritime Board; and comprised of well known names from some of the biggest business houses and educational institutes in India. The delegation visited the cities of Stockholm and Malmo in Sweden; and Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague in Netherlands, to explore opportunities for collaboration with industries, trade associations, and universities based out of Europe, thus aiming to strengthen the ties between Europe and Gujarat.
The core areas of interest identified by the delegation for this visit were Ports and Maritime, Energy, Healthcare, Environment Protection, Innovation and Education. The delegation marked its presence at six interaction meets and networking events, in both the countries; and also interacted with the Indian diaspora in Sweden and Netherlands, over the course of two separate networking events. In addition to these events, the delegation participated in almost 30 focused meetings across business and academia, meeting around 600 professionals from Europe, and spreading the message of Vibrant Gujarat 2015. HE Mrs. Banashri Bose Harrison, Ambassador of India to Sweden; and HE Mr. Rajesh Nandan Prasad, Ambassador of India to The Netherlands, also extended warm welcome to the delegation, and expressed their delight in witnessing growing bilateral and mutually beneficial collaboration between Europe and Gujarat.
The Sweden leg of the delegation was on Monday and Tuesday, with the delegates participating in meetings with some of the most prominent Swedish organizations such as Handelsbanken, Alfa Laval and the Karolinska Institutet. Swedish companies are already active in manufacturing, healthcare and pharma space in India, and the delegation invited such organizations to increase their participation through Gujarat’s business friendly environment.
Netherlands is already a country partner for Vibrant Gujarat 2015, which led to the delegates receiving an enormous response during the three days they spent in the country (24, 25 and 26 Sep). Dutch organizations are world famous for their expertise in sectors such as Ports and Maritime, Renewable Energy, Water Management, and Food and Agro Processing. The delegation explored multiple avenues for collaboration in these sectors, not just with Dutch companies, but also with the Dutch Government, over the course of business meetings and roundtables focused not just on investments, but also on policy and regulatory issues. Marquee Dutch companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Philips and APM Terminals are active partners in Gujarat’s progress, and the delegation received the unique opportunity to visit the headquarters of such organizations and discuss further business propositions with their top management based out of Netherlands.
Spearheaded by Mr. AK Rakesh, the delegation also participated in meetings objectively aimed at expediting major projects being undertaken by the Gujarat Maritime Board, such as development of Gujarat Maritime University, Gujarat Maritime Cluster, Ro-Ro Passenger Ferry Project; and Port Modernization in Gujarat. Some of the largest ports of the European and Scandinavian region, namely Copenhagen-Malmo Port, Port of Rotterdam and Port of Amsterdam met the delegation and have shown positive interest in participating in the development of Gujarat’s ports, through technology transfer and knowledge sharing.
On the educational front, the delegation interacted with prominent universities such as KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, World Maritime University, Netherlands Maritime University and Erasmus University. Discussions held with these universities mainly centered on two topics namely development of maritime university in Gujarat; and inviting participation from these universities in International Conference for Academic Institutions (ICAI 2015). These European universities have expressed keen interest in collaborating with Gujarat’s educational institutes, in terms of knowledge sharing and exchange programs.
Friday evening thus signaled the end of a Vibrant Gujarat international delegation visit aimed at promoting Gujarat and India as attractive business and knowledge hubs in one of the most professional and scenically beautiful regions of the world. The warm response received by the delegation, both quantitatively and qualitatively, could ensure significant participation from Europe during Vibrant Gujarat 2015, ultimately helping to better the quality of lives in Gujarat, and India as a whole. CCI Newswire
