Indian industry gets ready to cross Great Wall

Monday, 13 October 2003, 19:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Monday announced the launch of a series of events in China this week with a view to helping domestic firms make their presence in the land of opportunity. India Week in China, which began Monday and would continue till Sunday, would see nearly 100 Indian industry captains deliberating on a host of trade issues with their Chinese counterparts, said a senior official of the lobby group. CII's weeklong business events in China come soon after Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's historical six-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai in June, which achieved significant results in improving economic relations. "The idea behind organising the events is to showcase India's potential in a vast spectrum of industrial sectors such as healthcare, banking, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and automotive components," said the official. "The seminars, exhibitions and meetings that we are organising over this week will give Chinese entrepreneurs an opportunity to know India and their Indian counterparts and vice versa," the official added. As part of the initiative, CII on Monday organised seminars on steel, textiles and tourism industries in Shanghai. This would be followed by a three-day Made in India show beginning Thursday in Beijing. An interactive meeting between select chief executive officers of Indian and Chinese companies would be held in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday. An India-China Business Forum would also be launched on Friday. After years of fearing the emergence of China as a potential competitor, Indian entrepreneurs are finally getting ready to cross the Great Wall and make their presence in the land of opportunity. Experts say bilateral trade between India and China has the potential to reach $10 billion within three years, up from $5 billion now. Industry observers say the technology sector in both the countries would receive a major boost as the two Asian giants recognise the scope of exploiting each other's strengths. It wasn't long ago when the Indian IT industry's fear of China emerging as a potential competitor in the technology space bordered on full-blown paranoia.
Source: IANS
siliconindia