FICCI's Forum of Parliamentarians heads to Germany ahead of Chancellor Merkel's India visit

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) will organise the second study-cum-visit programme of a high powered delegation comprising Indian MPs and captains of Indian industry from 1st to 5th September 2015 to Germany.

The delegation will be led by Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of Parliament and Chair, FICCI's India-Germany Forum of Parliamentarians and Dr Jyotsna Suri, President FICCI.

FICCI's India-Germany Forum of Parliamentarians was set up in 2002. It aims to bring together MPs from across party lines to understand and appreciate various aspects of the India Germany relationship through a dialogue with counterpart MPs, senior government officials, industry leaders, policy experts and media.

The delegation follows the path-breaking visit of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi to Germany in April 2015 and precedes the German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel's visit to India in early October.

FICCI Presidium finds strong representation in the delegation with the presence of the current president Dr Jyotsna Suri, Sr Vice President Mr Harshavardhan Neotia and the immediate Past President Mr Sidharth Birla. The Members of Parliament include Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Member of Parliament (BJP) and Chair of FICCI's India-Germany Forum of Parliamentarians, Shri Rajeev Shukla, Member of Parliament (INC), Shri Rajeev Shankarrao Satav, Member of Parliament (INC), Smt. Supriya Sadanand Sule, Member of Parliament (NCP) and Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya, Member of Parliament (BJP).

The collaboration between the two strategic partners FICCI and KAS has intensified significantly in recent years. The delegation aims to intensify interactions with German policy makers, industrialists and academia, building a valuable track two understanding of various aspects of the relationship ahead of forthcoming high level official consultations later this year.

Dr. Lars Peter Schmidt, Resident Representative, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) said, "This visit is aimed at enhancing the already excellent relations between India and Germany and fostering further dialogue between policy-makers from both countries. Accordingly, this dialogue has been structured to focus on the priority areas of cooperation as identified by both governments".

The study tour will cover three destinations: Baden-Wurttemberg, Dresden in Saxony and Berlin. The itinerary includes several site visits including several manufacturing units, skilling units and the river cleaning projects. The sectors are areas of high focus with Germany where German technology and models would be relevant for India's plans in skilling, cleaning of rivers, Make in India, renewable energy and clean tech.

The delegation would call on German Ministers and government representatives in each destination. Interaction with policy makers, Members of Parliament and representatives of German industry is also on the cards.

Highlighting the importance of this visit, Dr. Jyotsna Suri, President of FICCI stated, "The Indo-German relationship exists on sound fundamentals and the focus of this delegation's visit would be to deliberate upon innovative ways of closer cooperation and to build upon the renewed enthusiasm between the nations.