CII organised a CEOs delegation led by Mr Vikram Kirloskar, President CII, to Reunion Island, an overseas department and region of France in the India ocean from 23-24 October 2019. The delegation engaged with the Ministers of Economy and Trade, Labour and Transportation of France in a closed door meeting attended by about 100 CEOs from India, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa and Madagascar.
The objective of this interaction was to apprise the CEOs of France's existing and future plans for the Reunion Island and how integral the Region is to France, in the context of the Indo Pacific cooperation.
A few success stories of French and companies from the Region were also presented. This was followed by specific B2B meetings for the CEOs. Mr Kirloskar also met with the Vice President of the Reunion Island, who sought India's help to deepen business cooperation in areas like energy, food security, pharma among others. Post the CEOs interaction, a large business conference "Choose La Reunion" was organised where Ministers from the Indo Pacific Region countries like India, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa shared their vision for the Region and their cooperation with the Reunion island. Mr V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs, spoke from the India side. Mr Kirloskar presented the Indian industry perspective at this session. Thereafter the Indian delegation had a brief interaction with president Macron at the Perfecture - the Federal Government office of the Reunion Island. President Macron also hosted a dinner for the CEOs delegation at the Perfecture.
Some of the areas identified for mutual cooperation include Tourism and hospitality sector, Agriculture, Energy including Renewable Energy, Shipbuilding, IT, Skills Development, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical etc.
Earlier addressing the gathering President of France Mr Macron shared his vision and strategy for Pacific Islands and committed to work together for the security , biodiversity and sustainable development of the Indo Pacific islands. Delineating economic vision of the region he stressed upon connectivity , renewable energy digital infrastructure, smart cities and sharing best practices in agriculture, sustainable fishing and food security.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) mounted a strong industry delegation led by Mr Vikram Kirloskar, President, CII to Reunion Island - an overseas department and region of France in Indian Ocean and participated in a Business Meet ‘Choose La Reunion’ . The business meet was addressed by President of France Mr Emanuel Macron and several Ministers and Dignitaries from participating countries including India.
Addressing the Business Forum Mr Kirloskar said that India and France share a strong partnership and businesses of both the counties are quite engaged investing in each other countries. The Reunion Island presents a huge opportunity for businesses of both the counties expand this partnership and join hands to meet the requirements of various economies of Africa where goodwill for both India and France is very high. Indian industry believes that as African nations continue to grow, they need constructive foreign investment. Indian industry as a solution partner to African nations could greatly contribute to their development - creating employment , spearheading talent and skill development. To do so India and France can leverage their respective strengths such as the experience of setting up successful distribution for fragmented consumer markets and the entrepreneurial mindset, he added.
24 October 2019
New Delhi