Fever pitch preparations for the participation of India in the 84th TIF as the Honoured Country
Contacts between the TIF-Helexpo administration and Indian government and economic agents, as well as Bollywood representatives, in the framework of the recent delegation sent to the Asian country “New India” is the focal point of India’s participation at the 84th TIF
Preparations for the participation of India as Honoured Country at the 84th TIF have reached fever pitch. President of TIF-Helexpo Mr Tasos Tzikas and the CEO Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis travelled to India over the past few days, in the framework of the delegation that was organised in cooperation with the Indian Embassy in Greece and the Greek Embassy in India. They carried out a series of meetings with Indian governmental and financial agents, as well as with Bollywood representatives who are interested in productions in Greece, specifically in Thessaloniki. Overall, over the four days the trip lasted, they had 14 meetings.
TIF-Helexpo management met with the Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry of India Mr Anup Wadhawan, who expressed the wish of his government to present “New India”, the India of growth and technology as he put it, at the 84th TIF. The President and the CEO of TIF-Helexpo worked very closely with the head of India Trade Promotion Organisation, Mr L. C. Goel, who is organising the Indian participation at the 84th TIF. In fact, during an inclusive meeting with all involved parties, it was made known that India will make its presence felt dynamically at the General Fair next September, through traditional textile businesses, as well as technology, pharmaceutical industry, and aerospace companies.
In the framework of the delegation, TIF-Helexpo management met with the administration of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), noting the intense interest of the Chamber member-businesses to participate in the 84th TIF. Meetings were also held with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), which wants to utilise its presence at the event as a springboard for its members to penetrate Balkan markets.
Mr Tzikas and Mr Pozrikidis also found themselves in Bangalor, India’s Silicon Valley, where they met with the local Chamber, most members of which are tech companies. In Bangalore they met with representatives of one of the largest financial and business groups in India, Tata Group. During their meeting the group expressed an interest in participating in both the 84th TIF and in technology investments in Greece.
TIF-Helexpo management also visited the Bombay Stock Market, one of the ten largest stock markets in the world. There they discussed the possibility of the Stock Market participating in the 84th TIF with its management. The participation would be spearheaded by its special startup department to connect it to Greek startups participating in September’s event. There were also meetings with the Bombay Chamber.
Lastly, the President and the CEO of TIF-Helexpo had meetings with Bollywood executives (the Shiamak Group and Malhotra Productions), as well with actors and choreographers, with whom they discussed the possibility of their producing and presenting an Indian performance in Thessaloniki during the 84th TIF, as well as carrying out filming within the TIF for films. In fact, the Film Office of the Region of Central Macedonia has already been informed about this, so as to welcome the Indian producers in Thessaloniki within February.
