This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Minister heads to India
03/11/2005
Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen will become the first Executive Minister to visit India when he heads to New Delhi and Bangalore next week to encourage expanded business links and promote excellence in Scottish education.
New Delhi is regarded as the political and education hub of India while Bangalore is seen as India's Silicon Valley with a rich concentration of high-tech companies.
The DFM, who is also Enterprise Minister, will also visit Shanghai to further develop high-level economic and educational links with China.
He will meet senior figures in government, business and education including the IT, renewables, biotech, oil and gas, whisky and publishing sectors.
Ahead of his visit, Nicol Stephen said:
"China and India are the world's two biggest countries and fast-emerging economic powerhouses. Now is the time to act. We have a narrow window of opportunity to form strong and beneficial business and education links with India.
"India is an English speaking democracy that is set to be the third biggest economy in the world. Yet it is only 33rd on the list of Scottish export destinations.
"There are already Scottish companies with a foothold in India and Indian companies investing in Scotland. Thousands of Indian students are already benefiting from education 'made in Scotland'. We need opportunities for many more to follow."
"India and China are vast new economies. Scotland can win from the opportunities that are there. We will gain an edge if we develop partnerships which use Scottish skills, research and enterprise. My aim is to open doors and build benefits for Scotland."
The Minister's programme is:
Monday, November 7 - New Delhi
- Meeting with Environment NGOs, public and private sector organisations to discuss India's growing energy needs and objectives for renewables and present Scotland's strengths in this sector.
- Speech to 'India Research and Development 2005', a major international conference to be opened by the Indian President and feature speeches by former US Defence Secretary William Cohen, senior Ministers from India and Russia and leading business figures from around the world. The DFM's speech will be on the subject of 'Nurturing Innovation - Creating the Right Culture'
- Meeting with representatives of the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
- Indian launch of a children's book produced by Scottish company Mallard Media
- British Council reception to promote what Scotland can offer to Indian students, talented young people and businesses
Tuesday, November 8 - New Delhi
- Visit to Delhi Public School's RK Puran campus. The school has a tie-up with the Interactive University's 'SCHOLAR' programme, which is used to deliver the Higher programme to students
- Visit Indian HQ of Newell and Budge, a Scottish-based IT services company, whose work in India has resulted in expansion of the company in Scotland
- Lab visit and meetings at Dabur Pharma Ltd, one of India's leading companies for cancer research and anticancer products
- Meeting with representatives of the Indian Ministry of Industry
- High Commission reception with leading business figures in ICT, Life Sciences and Oil and Gas sectors
Wednesday, November 9 - New Delhi
- Breakfast meeting with the Economist Corporate Network, discussing India's business sector with leading multinational CEOs and raising awareness of Scotland's strengths
- Visit to Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, one of India's leading national oil companies
Thursday, November 10 - Bangalore
- Visit to Wipro Ltd, one of the world's biggest IT services companies, whose world-wide client base includes the Scottish Parliament. One of their senior officials, Laxman Badiga, is a Globalscot
- Visit to Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd, a leading Indian company in financial accounting software.
- Networking reception supported by British Trade Office and the National Association of Software Services Companies with CEOs in key industries of relevance to Scotland
Friday, November 11 - Bangalore
- Visit to the Indian Institute of Science to explore opportunities for potential academic research collaborations with Scotland
- Visit to Infosys Ltd, India's leading IT company with 39,000 staff worldwide
Saturday, November 12 to Tuesday, November 15 - Shanghai
- Visits to Fudan University, one of China's leading educational establishments, and Tongji University, which has strong links with Elmwood College in Fife on golf related education and training
- Meeting senior Shanghai politicians, visit the city's major planning exhibition and hear about Shanghai's plans for the Expo 2010 event
- Meeting with Royal Bank of Scotland at their Shanghai offices to discuss the bank's plans in China
- Meeting senior business and education figures at a British Consulate Reception