Businesses exposed to success stories

These programmes, organised in partnership with Government of India agencies, have exposed businessmen and women from 47 countries to a range of success stories by inviting renowned entrepreneurs to share their first-hand experiences as well as organising site visits to a number of successful companies.

To date there have been nine of these programmes, organised in partnership with the Central Bank of India, Coir Board of India, Export-Import Bank of India, National Housing Bank of India and National Small Industries Corporation of India.

Site visit to software company

“I felt like Alice in Wonderland,” recalls Farida Rahman, after one such training programme which took place in Bangalore, India. “It was an awe-inspiring experience to see what seven people could achieve.”

The team of seven she is referring to are the founders of Infosys Technologies Ltd, the software exporter which was set up with US$250 back in 1981 and is now worth over US$4 billion.

Ms Rahman, Director of Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was one of the participants who went on a number of site visits, of which the Infosys 300-acre (121 hectares) campus was one.

“The site was absolutely huge, like a university campus,” says Ms Rahman. “The company is bubbling with energy and so full of life. This infectious enthusiasm is something I would like to inject in my own business.”

Creating contacts

As well as entrepreneurs, senior government officials from across the Commonwealth also take part in these programmes, one of whom was Hon Dr Jerrol Thompson, Minister for Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Industry in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Caribbean country once had the largest privately owned coconut plantation in the world, and Hon Dr Thompson is looking at ways to develop this for the benefit of the nation.

In Bangalore he met an entrepreneur from Solomon Islands who crushes coconuts to make natural oils, which is then exported abroad, and also a representative from Industree Crafts Foundation, a non-profit organisation that helps young artisans set up their own businesses.

Dr Thompson held substantial discussions on everything from the equipment used, to the potential markets available for natural fibre products. He also spoke with representatives from the Indian Government, who “expressed a willingness to help us grow and develop our coconut coir fibre and oil industry”.

“This meeting gave me and others an opportunity to make a wealth of contacts throughout the world,” he explained.

“We were also exposed to how other businesses were coping with the global economic crisis, which I can take back to St Vincent and the Grenadines.”

Learning lessons

Another of these programmes in India was attended by Rahul Sanghai, Director of Paramount Minerals and Chemicals Limited, a family run business based in Thane, a major industrial belt north of Mumbai in India. They manufacture optical whitening agents used in textile, detergent and paper industries, 50 per cent of which is then exported abroad.

Mr Sanghai compared his experiences at the seminar to “going to business school”.

The objective of the seminar he attended was for participants to gain a more rounded idea of different economic outlooks of the time and, among others, they heard from prominent entrepreneurs and policymakers from India and the rest of the Commonwealth.

“This programme gave me an insight into what bankers and leading entrepreneurs are doing. You try to correlate their experiences with what you are doing at a particular point in time,” Mr Sanghai said, adding that what participants learn “stands them in good stead for the future.”

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