CII signs two MOUs with TOBB and EBRD Deputy PM of Turkey is chief guest

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed two separate MOUs with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the highest legal entity in Turkey representing the private sector and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a pioneer private sector investment bank, at a session on ‘Inclusive Business: The Way Forward’ as part of the ‘National Conference and Annual Session 2015’ in New Delhi. Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII signed on behalf of CII.

By the MOU between TOBB and CII, both parties agreed to take all such steps as may be necessary and feasible to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, undertake studies to determine the support which might benefit their respective members, exchange information on all economic and commercial matters with regards to Turkey and India including specific industrial sectors relevant to both the countries. The agreement between CII and EBRD aims to increase financing opportunities of EBRD to Indian corporates through CII. EBRD has already made $1 billion investment in the India and there is huge untapped potential in the Indian private sector. This MOU will provide access to Indian corporates to global financing opportunities. 

H.E. Mr Ali Babacan, the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey was the chief guest to witness this. He congratulated the parties and wished them success for future. Focusing on the theme, he said, “Inclusiveness, Implementation and Investment are the priorities of G20 Turkey.” Mr Babacan further added that SMEs are the engines of growth. Thus the Turkish Presidency will focus on promotion of more entrepreneurship, R&D, Innovation and employment. Moreover, G20 is launching the W20 initiative to increase the role of women in business. W20 will encourage participation of women and organizations working for women empowerment to make it more effective. He also assured that G20 is identifying solutions to improve conditions for lower income countries.

Mr Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, B20 Chair, and President, TOBB said, “Inclusiveness is an important driver for growth.” He further added that countries should fight challenges together. To harness the potential, B20 has started an initiative called Regional Consultation Forum to engage and involve emerging economies of the world. Mr Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that it has two objectives. Firstly, include businesses from emerging economies, and secondly, it will take note of the views of Non-G20 countries. Inclusiveness of SMEs is important as they create two-third of jobs in G20 countries. He also said that SMEs should be included in the value chains.  B20 has created a WSMEs Forum to cooperate with the SMEs and understand their problems and facilitate them.

While setting the tone of the session, Mr Adi Godrej, Past President, CII and Chairman, Godrej Group who was also the chair of the session said, “India and Turkey share strong bonds of friendship and commercial linkages dating back several centuries. Today, both India and Turkey have a vibrant economic relationship that has only touched the tip of the iceberg. We are sure that under your government’s able stewardship, the bilateral economic relationship will touch newer heights.” He stated that we are also delighted that an emerging market like Turkey has taken over the Chairmanship of the G20 for this year. India looks forward to working with Turkey to further the objectives of the G20.

NIT Warangal signs MoU with Elico Ltd at CII Knowledgexpo

CII higher education summit at Knowledgexpo saw words on industry – academia collaboration translating into action with the inking of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between National Institute of Technology, Warangal and Hyderabad-based company Elico Ltd. The MoU was signed during a session on research partnerships between industry and institutes which saw captains from both industry and institutes brainstorm on this subject with vigour and passion.

Elico Ltd is the first analytical instrumentation manufacturing company in India based at Hyderabad. The Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Mr Ramesh Datla, who is also the Chairman of CII National Committee on Intellectual Property and who signed the MoU with the Director of NIT Warangal, Dr Srinivas Rao, said he looked forward to working once again with the academia to take forward some of the research work which his company was keen to take up.

As part of the MoU, joint research projects, both on short term and long term basis, which are of interest to Elico and NIT Warangal will be identified and implemented on mutually agreed basis.

Some key provisions of the MoU are:

• To conduct joint research projects.
• To impart industry-related training to make the academic model more employment oriented.
• To promote continuous development and upgradation of skills for both the teaching staff and students in order to successfully meet the growing needs of industry.
• To provide research opportunities and industrial exposure to Ph.D. students.
• To identify suitable projects and provide support for mutual benefit.
• To recruit students at all levels through ‘On Campus Selection Process’.
• To jointly approach funding agencies for carrying out R&D projects of mutual interest.

Competition Compliance guidelines soon to be in public domain– Ashok Chawla, Chairperson of Competition Commission of India

The Competition Commission of India will soon come up with well-defined underlines for competition compliance and will also put them in the public domain for better awareness amongst the corporates and various levels of management within the companies.

“Compliance is like the Truth, and not a mathematical formula to match the juggle. The industry must develop this culture and encourage competition. I welcome the initiatives and efforts of CII towards creating awareness on the same amongst the industry,” said Mr Ashok Chawla, Chairperson of Competition Compliance of India while addressing at Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) ‘Boosting Competition Compliance – Tackling Challenges’. With the objective of improving awareness and providing a platform to educate the India Inc on the issues, CII signed MoU with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) on Friday.

Mr Chawla cautioned, “There are penalties and fines for non-compliance. The companies also lose credibility if found violating the Competition Compliance. So, the costs of violations are extremely high. There are no formulas defining the violations but there are host of factors derived from the behavioral aspects. Cross-country literature suggests a correlation between the degree of compliances and overall welfare of the society. India’s GDP has tripled in two decades with growth of businesses and hence, the compliance is the need of hour.”

Ms Zia Mody, Managing Partner, AZB & Partners, said, “There is a need for awareness on the issue and the organizations need to aware their sales and marketing arms also. Marketing communications and big claims of the companies can go against them even after few years of making them. Exclusivity arrangements and dominance abuses are going to be closely watched.”

She also added, “When there is a need for strong compliance, there is also need to treat each industry differently in the framework of Competition Compliance. In several countries there are incentives for adhering to the compliance which can be looked at for encouragement in India also.” Mr Chawla responded that the suggestions might be considered in the future and competition is open to engage in a public dialogue.

Dr Naushad Forbes, Vice President, CII, said, “CII has been closely working with Competition Commission of India and we are committed to encourage the compliance not only in its true spirit but also to make it a reality.”

While signing MoU with CII, Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO of IICA said, “IICA has been engaged into capacity building for the corporates and training. This new initiative with CII will focus on providing guidance and broad framework of Competition Compliance to the corporates in India. The corporate India has already moved on from the mindset of profit seeking and looking at contributing to the development process. Now there is the need of developing the culture of compliance within the business environment.”