AIBC leads youth delegation to CII conference in India

The Australia India Business Council (AIBC) will lead a delegation of ten young Indians and Australians based in Australia to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Young Indians National conference to be held in Delhi on the 5th February 2010.

The delegation, led by President AIBC NSW Dipen Rughani, will provide an opportunity for young minds from Australia who have leadership qualities to engage with their peers and at the same time promote the benefits of living working and studying in Australia. The organisers of the conference have agreed to highlight this delegation and arrange a meeting for them with Minister of State Shashi Tharoor, Rahul Gandhi and Mr.Sachin Pilot.

“The inherent value of such a delegation is beyond tangible at a crucial and sensitive time such as now”, said Dipen Rughani. He added, “We seek to engage the concerns of Young Indians and share with them our understanding from an on-the-ground point of view.”

One of the delegates, and AIBC NSW Young Professionals’ Chair Ruchir Punjabi said “It's ironic so far that students and young people on the ground have not been part of delegations to or from India. Through this trip, we seek to mend bridges on a grass-roots level explaining the issues across borders on the situation.”

"Australia is very proud of its multicultural identity and all Australians alike deplore racism in any form. During this visit as youth representatives we will aim to create a platform for better understanding and cooperation between the two great countries”, said another delegate Archie Ravishankar, Chair of the AIBC QLD Youth Chapter.

The education export market to India was worth over AU$2billion in 2007/8 according to Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade. With close to 90,000 Indian students studying in Australia, education has become Australia's 3rd largest export to India.