It was in
November 2006 we introduced MART in Europe for the first time through MIDEST
exhibition at Nord Villepinte, Paris, France.MIDEST, one of the leading
international subcontracting shows was organized by Reed Expositions, and the
Indian operations were handled by Arun Kumar Rai of Indo French Chamber of
Commerce. Thanks to Arun, we were able to foster an alliance with and also an
opportunity to take the Indian products overseas through MART.
At MIDEST
like in any other international show all major manufacturing countries had
their pavilions – Germany (with some states having separate pavilions), China,
Taiwan, Korea, Japan, UK to name a few showcasing the strength the country
possesses in offering the best manufacturing solutions to the world. These pavilions
showed the seriousness and determination each Government had to promote its
respective economy. But, which attracted me the most was of Pakistan.
Much to my
amazement, they had a decent pavilion with a good reception desk, where a
senior government official inviting all the visitors to their pavilion and I
was literally impressed with the energy and vibrancies of the young officer in
charge.
Now, at
MIDEST 2006 because of the hard work and personal effort of Arun, he was able
to bring almost fifteen manufacturers, bringing them to a single platform. With
the Indian manufacturers mostly from Gujarat and from the other parts of the
country who came to test their luck at European market, Arun was also
successful to get a stall from EEPC – not more than a junket for the officials present.
The end result, some of the individual companies were able to get orders, but
the lack of a combined pitching resulted in not gaining much for India.
With the
natural growth we were making in the economic front, as one of the biggest
consumer markets in the world, a lot of global manufacturers are making India a
manufacturing destination for the last two decades. The much needed inspiration
was missing from the Government, which was addressed by our Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on his maiden speech at Red Fort on 15th August 2014, and within
just 40 days he is getting the mission launched, “MAKE IN INDIA, SELL
ANYWHERE”. On 25th September 2014 the PM will be launching “MAKE IN INDIA” at a
mega function that will be attended by about a thousand global and domestic
business leaders, along with simultaneous launches planned at different metros
in India as well as at some international venues. According to officials
several global companies from US, Japan, Korea, Sweden, Poland, Germany,
France, Australia, China, and Italy are likely to attend the function addressed
by Narendra Modi.
Assuring
fresh investments from Japan and China, Modi is surely taking strong steps to
reverse the economic growth we were missing for the last couple of years, and
already the market is responding positively.
Why this not
happened earlier? Is it just a Modi magic? Will Modi minus BJP government be as
effective as it is today? A country of 120 Crore people doesn’t have enough leaders
who can visualize our growth and drive the nation towards prosperity?
I don’t
believe a strong country like India should look upon a single individual. There
must be a collective effort. What we must learn from Modi is to get inspired to
think about our country, than just selfishly looking towards personal gains. We
Indians will be only successful when thousands of Modis are created to lead
this country, and my friends, along with me one among those people are you.
