OIFC activities at PBD 2012
The main highlight of the PBD 2012 was the ‘Market Place’ organised by the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC), where the potential investor from the diaspora and the Indian businessmen could meet and discuss to establish joint ventures.
The OIFC Market Place was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Vayalar Ravi. A special attraction was the pre-scheduled B2B meetings which offered the delegates the unique opportunity to build relationships with OIFC’s stakeholders in a relaxed environment conducive for business discussions in a series of one-on-one meetings.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, OIFC’s first financial services knowledge partner have addressed financial needs to NRIs at Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2012
President of Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mr. KVS Manian said, “We have recently seen increased interest in NRIs remitting money to India, given the current exchange rates and the liberalized regime on NRE interest rates. OIFC provided a powerful platform for Kotak Mahindra Bank to connect with NRIs and provide them suitable solutions addressing their financial needs in India.”
This year OIFC focus was not only to conduct B2B meetings but most importantly enable the diaspora to connect to India personally, financially, emotionally and socially. In line of this OIFC’s state government partners, knowledge partners and media partners have showcased their services at the OIFC Market Place pavilion and their authorities interacted with the delegates to discuss state level initiatives for the NRIs, various investment opportunities in India, procedures to set up a business in India, NRI banking, investment in capital markets and more were the hot discussions in the 3 days of event.
During the event, with an impressive footfall of more than 1200 visitors, the Market Place witnessed 520 business interactions and meetings being held at the Market Place between: the PBD delegates; PBD delegates and the OIFC Partners; and, OIFC partners.
A four member delegation from Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) led by its President Mr. Satish Thakkar and accompanied by Mr. Frank Scarpitti, Mayor of Markham, visited the OIFC pavilion and conducted a business meeting with Government of Gujarat on Clean Energy and IT services.
OIFC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Reunion Island (Chambre de Commerce et D’Industrie de la Reunion). This agreement was to bring forth considerable mutual cooperation in relation to information exchange and business opportunities.
Hon’ble Jharkhand CM, Shri Arjun Munda on a visit to 6th OIFC Market Place
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Shri Arjun Munda inaugurated Jharkhand’s pavilion on the third day of the event. Industries department, Government of Jharkhand is one of the state partners for promoting economic engagement with Indian diaspora and offering assistance in identification of investment opportunities in the state. He said, “The state has ample of opportunities to invest and explore in various sectors and is working hard to become the knowledge hub of India. I would like to invite all the NRIs/PIOs to come and visit the land of Jharkhand.”
The last day of the PBD 2012, had back-to-back sessions on various state NRI-centric initiatives and opportunities available in India scheduled over the day. The day started with the Chief Minister’s plenary session on “Global Indian: State Initiatives and Opportunities” where Hon’ble Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi welcomed the Chief Ministers from State of Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Each of them highlighted their state policies for investment and development explaining the state’s institutional support provided for the Overseas Indians. Also they had seven parallel state sessions schedule at different halls at the venue.
