2020 Vision: Indian Chamber Looks to Future

On Wednesday evening, the Indian Business Chamber of Luxembourg (IBCL) held a New Year Meet and Greet during which Board Members presented their thoughts on the direction that the IBCL should take in 2020 and beyond.

The event, held at the Foundry coworking space in Luxembourg-Hollerich, brought together existing and potential members, partners and sponsors alike to listen to and present their own thoughts on the IBCL’s vision for the new year.

IBCL Board Member Aditya Sharma began by presenting the chamber’s long-term vision for moving forward, particularly in relation to the direction in which India, which is currently going through an economic crisis, is headed. He recalled that Luxembourg and India recently celebrated their 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations, praising the fact that the Grand Duchy was one of the few European countries willing to interact with India at this level at that time. Moving forward, he confirmed that the IBCL was keen to continue its efforts of strengthening this interaction between the two countries.

Speaking of planned events for the new year, Aditya Sharma highlighted that the IBCL has been invited to send a delegation to the “Ideas For India” conference taking place from 22-24 April 2020 in London. He recalled that IBCL members were welcome to join this three-day international event bringing together several Indian policymakers. In addition, a delegation from the Indian steel industry will be coming to Luxembourg in May or June, thanks to the support of IBCL sponsor ArcelorMittal. He also recalled that the IBCL was continuing to work with the Indian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union in Brussels to fulfil its mission.

Aditya Sharma went on to announce the IBCL’s involvement in the upcoming Global Business Summit being held in New Delhi, India from 6 to 7 March 2020. Around 2,000 delegates are expected to attend what Mr Sharma described as a “premium event in India”. The IBCL attended the last edition of this international summit, with Luxembourg having three speaking slots. Members of the chamber are again invited to join.

Aditya Sharma also highlighted the IBCL’s planned involvement in both the 6^th Smart Cities India Expo, taking place from 20 to 22 May 2020 in New Delhi, and at the national level, in the 2020 Cleantech Forum Europe, a “high-profile” international event being hosted by Luxembourg for the first time. He concluded that several events were also in the pipeline for the second half of the year, but that these would be announced at a later date.

Mr Sharma encouraged IBCL members to get more involved in the chamber. He recalled that the chamber had recently appointed new Strategic Advisory Board Members and Board Members Recent board member appointments, which, in addition to its senior leadership team, should help them to better align the IBCL with the growing economic and financial ties between Luxembourg and India.

The new Strategic Advisory Board Members are Yves Even, Partner at Ernst & Young (EY) Luxembourg, and Sunita Lukkhoo, Deputy Adviser & Regional Manager at European Investment Bank (EIB). The new Board Members are Ajay Bali, Associate Partner, Digital Advisory, Services at EY Luxembourg, and Olivier Lefèvre, Partner - Audit & Assurance at Deloitte Luxembourg. The new year also saw the IBCL set up four Working Committees for Digitalisation & Innovation (led by Anil Nair, Global IOT Principal at Vodafone Luxembourg), Financial Services & Insurance (led by Marco Lichtfous, Partner at KPMG Luxembourg), HR & Leadership (led by Stephane Compain, Lux Relo / Relocation Services) and Education, Learning and Development (led by Vivek Bhandari, Co-Founder and Chief Executive at Scholarly.co). These committees are aimed at widening the chamber’s offer to its members and sponsors while strengthening its corporate governance.

Aditya Sharma then invited Julie Becker, Deputy CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE), to discuss her recent experience in Delhi in India and her ideas for the future of the chamber. In this context, Ms Becker expressed her delight that Luxembourg appeared to be “well known and well seen” in India, with a reputation rivalling even London in areas such as finance. She noted that Indian issuers were keen for collaboration, adding that this paired with international investors showed “great potential for development in the future”.

Finally, IBCL President, Sudhir Kumar Kohli, recalled that the IBCL is one of the leading international chambers in Luxembourg. He added that it planned to organise at least two to three events this year in every sector, before concluding by thanking the chamber’s sponsors, such as the Foundry and ArcelorMittal, and media partners, namely Chronicle.lu and Luxembourg Times.

The presentation was followed by interaction and networking, where Members of the Board collected personalised feedback on their 2020 vision, accompanied by Indian food and local beer and wine.