British South India Council of Commerce, in association with Government of Karnataka NRI Forum, organised it annual UK Karnataka Business Meet 2014 at the British Parliament, London on 30th October 2014. The business meet had Lord Swraj Paul as one of the speakers and was chaired by Mr Virendra Sharma MP, Patron of British South India Council of Commerce. The audience included representatives from Karnataka, Members of House of Lords & House of Commons, representatives from various trade bodies etc.
One of the highlight of the business meet was the signing the memorandum of understanding between British South India Council of Commerce, represented by its Director/ Chief Co Ordinator, Mr.Sujit S Nair.,FRSA and Indo British Trade Council, a sub-committee of Leicestershire Asian Business Association, represented by its Chairman, Mr.Uday Dholakia. As per this agreement, British South India Council of Commerce & Indo British Trade Council, a sub-committee of Leicestershire Asian Business Association have agreed to work together to promote investment, exports and deepening international commercial relations between UK and India, especially South India. As part of this agreement one of the nominee from BSICC will join IBTC’s Board so as to give a strategic and operational link between the two organisations. Additionally, IBTC will host BSICC’s Midlands Office on gratis at their International Trade Hub, allowing both organisations to promote events, visits and missions to and from the Midlands. BSICC will also be inviting one of the nominees from IBTC to join its Advisory board.
The business meet commenced with Mr.Virendra Sharma MP starting the proceedings and formally welcoming the delegates. Following this Lord Swraj Paul spoke about various opportunities which India offers. Mr.Satish Luhar, Head, India Prosperity & Bilateral, South Asia Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London spoke about UK - India relationship. Following this, Mr.K.C.Janardhan, Hon Secretary of British Business Group Bangalore talked about some of the business opportunities in Karnataka in his talk titled as " Advantage Karnataka". Mr.Mike Knowles, Dean, Sushant School of Design and Formerly Visiting Prof UAL spoke about Design Led Skills Centres focusing on various Crafts of Karnataka. The next talk was about Doing Business in India with emphasis on the state of Karnataka by Mr.RamPrasad Alva, who is the Head of Initiatives to Prof Rajeev Gowda Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka. Jonathan, Senior researcher at Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce spoke about the Untapped Potential of UK Cities. The next talk was an interesting one where Mr.M L K Naidu, Youth President ( Sandur), Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene spoke about the Challenges faced by farmers as a result of Industrialization. He spoke in Kannada, which is the native language of Karnataka and Ms.Bharati Singh, who runs a very prominent NGO in Karnataka, translated his speech into English. Following this, Mr.Sadanand Nayak, Executive Director, Punjab National Bank (International) Limited, London spoke about UK Karnataka relations. Then there was a short motivation talk by motivational speaker Mr.Paresh Rughani following which the all the delegates present in the business meet were introduced. Next, Ms.Bharathi Singh, Founder and Managing Trustee, SA-MUDRA FOUNDATION, Bangalore spoke about "Towards Empowering Youth & Enabling Differently challenged in Karnataka". Mr.Manjunath Vishwakarma,Steering Committee Member, BSICC delivered the vote of thanks.
As background, British South India Council of Commerce (BSICC) is an umbrella body of South Indian communities in UK, formed with the intention to raise UK companies awareness to enormous potential opportunities in the South Indian states and encourage them to trade and invest in South Indian States. BSICC mission is to promote trade and investment between South India and the UK, and to provide a platform for companies and businessmen who wish to become part of the South India- U.K trade community. BSICC promote and defend the interests of UK companies in South India, representing UK businesses to the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and also to the Indian audiences and the Indian media .
