From the “Gateway of India” to the “Gate to the World” – Discover India in Hamburg

IndiaWeek_Logo„Hamburg will celebrate the sixth India Week from 2nd to 8th November this year. More than 60 events covering economy, culture, science and education, politics and society will showcase the profound expertise in Hamburg relating to India.

Indo-German Economy

„What started as an initiative of the German-Indian Round Table (GIRT) in 2007, has become an institution over the years. Due to its growing size and wide range of topics, the event takes place every two years since 2009 and is organized under the lead of the Senate Chancellery together with the Ministry of Culture in Hamburg, the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, the HWF Hamburg Business Development Corporation and the German-Indian Round Table as well as the Hamburg Representation Mumbai. Another important partner is the Consulate General of India, Hamburg.

„The purpose of India Week Hamburg is to display the multiple ties between Hamburg and India, strengthen existing partnerships and create new opportunities for cooperation. All those institutions, universities, companies, NGOs and others who are involved with India are invited to contribute. []“

„[…] In the economic sphere, the Indian government has triggered many processes of change. Hence, during India Week Hamburg 2015, experts from Germany and India will provide a professional audience with the latest updates and discuss the specifics of doing business with India. To understand the Indian consumer is crucial for successful market entry and will be a focal topic of discussion. The legal framework will be an issue as well as the impact of the new investment policy “Make in India”. Potential German investors will receive in-depth information on tax regulations and the latest developments in Foreign Direct Investment. The issues of energy supply and renewables will be discussed as well as life sciences. The ongoing shift towards digitalization will be picked up by looking at digital ecosystems, mobile and e-commerce in India or the media’s search for online gold. […]“

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The Hindu Business Line recommends reading „GIRT“ article

In an article titled „The horizon vocabulary“ journalist D. Murali of The Hindu Business Line, a renowned newspaper from India, recommends reading an article („Investment Destination Germany: Chances & Challenges for Indian Firms„) written by Rajnish Tiwari, Head of German-Indian Round Table in Hamburg:

Investment opportunities in Germany

In a significant contrast to their Chinese counterparts, Indian firms have so far tended to prefer developed Western countries for their investments, notes Rajnish Tiwari, Head of the German-Indian Round Table (GIRT) in Hamburg. Germany, along with the US and the UK, has emerged as a primary target for Indian FDI, he adds, in Investment destination Germany: Chances & challenges for Indian firms (www.ssrn.com). “With its established technological prowess, high-quality infrastructure and reliable institutional set-up, Germany is regarded as an excellent investment target by many Indian firms in their pursuit of newest technologies and commercially viable cutting-edge innovations,” Tiwari reasons.

The paper concedes that, since many Indian companies prefer to channelise their FDI projects to Germany through their existing domestic subsidiaries or through their daughter concerns in other European countries, the official data fail to capture the true extent of Indian engagement in Germany.

Tiwari urges Indian firms, therefore, to take advantage of Germany’s excellent physical infrastructure and technological know-how, including in the eastern part, while combining it with their own strengths in production, marketing, low-cost engineering, and business model innovations. Provides pointers that you may like to explore in detail.

Source: The Hindu Business Line, 11.02.2012

Direct link to the paper in question:
http://www.global-innovation.net/team/tiwari/PDF/Tiwari_BusinessGuide_2011.pdf

Book Review: The Rise of Indian Multinationals: Perspective of Indian Outward Foreign Direct Investment

In its publication „Reserve Bank of India Occasional Papers“ (Vol. 32. No. 1, Summer 2011) India’s central bank has published a review of the book „The Rise of Indian multinationals: Perspective of Indian Outward Foreign Direct Investment“, edited by Karl P. Sauvant and Jaya Prakash Pradhan with Ayesha Chatterjee and Brian Harley (Palgrave MacMillan: New York), 2010; pp 284, £90.

The review also includes a chapter on Indian investments in Germany. The reviewer Arvind K. Jha (Assistant Adviser, Department of Economic and Policy Research, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai) writes:

„Chapter 8 on ‘The Emergence of Indian Multinationals: An Empirical Study of Motives, Current Status, and Trends of Indian Investment in Germany’, by Rajnish Tiwari and Cornelius Herstatt, presents the results of a empirical survey conducted among Indian subsidiaries operating in Germany. Survey brings out the fact that the majority of Indian companies investing in Germany are from service sectors like software and IT industry (more than half of Indian companies), pharmaceuticals and the automotive industry. Important factors behind the Indian OFDI to Germany are long tradition of economic relations between these two countries, proximity to their customers and suppliers, large access to German market and availability of skilled labour. Another interesting finding of this survey study is that Indian MNEs are net job creators in the Germany. The study also finds that Indian subsidiaries have generally performed well and look forward to strengthen their operational presence in Germany, including research and development activities. However, the survey also highlights the challenges, including cross-cultural issues, being faced by Indian MNEs in Germany.“

Source: Reserve Bank of India
http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2490

„Doing well by doing good“: New opportunities for Indo-German cooperation?

Report in Germany Contact India, 5/2011, p. 17:

„Doing well by doing good“: New opportunities for Indo-German cooperation?

Last few years have seen the rise of several new and dynamic paradigms in innovation management, especially at the bottom of the population pyramid. These seek to motivate companies to develop affordable and good-quality products for rural and poor customers especially in developing economies.
Such ideas, though admirable in their own right, have in many instances failed to fully appreciate and utilize the power of innovative ideas and the rich heritage of traditional knowledge passed down the generations and are lying largely untapped.
Many local users in rural areas come up with inventions that are not only innovative and useful but also less expensive than the usual solutions available in the market. Other important features of these so called grassroot innovations are that they are environment friendly and in sync with the given infrastructural conditions. Examples of such innovations include water-based cooling systems that do not require electricity or non-sticky frying pans made of earth (clay).
The idea of grassroot innovations has been popularized by Professor Anil Gupta of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. Grassroot innovations are being fostered by institutions like the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and the Honey Bee Network in India. The Institute of Technology and Innovation Management at Hamburg University of Technology (TIM/TUHH) has recognized the potential of this paradigm, both, for the practice of innovation management in firms and for giving an impetus to Indo-German cooperation in fields of science, technology and business. There are several studies currently under progress at TIM/TUHH to survey the potential implications of grassroots innovations.

TIM/TUHH, together with the German-Indian Round Table (GIRT), will hold a workshop during the India Week Hamburg 2011 to explore and demonstrate the vast cooperation opportunities for German companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, to assist the inventors with technical and marketing know-how. Mutual benefit can be found, for instance, in the giant domestic Indian market as well as in international marketing of such products in other corresponding markets of Africa, Latin America and Asia. Anil Gupta is scheduled to deliver the keynote address and to participate in a panel discussion. Other cooperation partners include India’s National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.

(Source: Germany Contact India, 5/2011, p. 17)

See a local copy as PDF: clipping-gc-tuhh (76 KB)