Official visit of Consul General to Shaoxing (Zhejiang Province)
from
11-12 April, 2016

1. Consul General Prakash Gupta paid an official visit to Shaoxing (Zhejiang Province) from 11-12 April. He was accompanied by officials from the Consulate as well as CEO of Reliance Model Economic Township Ltd. (RMET) Dr. Shrivallabh Goyal.

2. On the evening of 11th April, the Shaoxing Indian Association (Keqiao) organized an interaction for Consul General with members of the Indian community. During the interaction which was attended by nearly 70-80 senior representatives of the Indian community, Consul General assured them of prompt consular services, as well as apprised them of the benefits available to them under the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), as well as the MADAD scheme. Indian community members raised issues concerning the high cost of schooling in Shaoxing as well as some obstacles faced in procurement of long-term visas. Consul General assured them of taking these issues with the local city leadership.

3. On 12th April Consul General called on Mayor of Shaoxing Mr Yu Zhihong and presented an Annual Plan for Cooperation with Shaoxing Municipal People’s Government. This included the organization of a sector specific business event to attract investments from Shaoxing into India, as well as a proposal for organizing of India Culture Week in Shaoxing in second half of 2016. Separately, it was also proposed to jointly organize the second International Day of Yoga in Shaoxing. Mayor Mr. Yu Zhihong welcomed the proposals and stated that he was planning to lead a high-level delegation to India in the latter half of 2016.

4. In the afternoon of 12th April, an India China (Shaoxing) Business and Investment Forum was also organized with focus on textile machinery and related goods as the key sector. This was organized by RMET along with the support from Consulate and Shaoxing. Nearly 80 Chinese companies from textile machinery sector attended the event and witnessed presentation from Consul General as well as RMET officials on the investment opportunities available in India. Several business leads emerged during the interaction and RMET has welcomed participation of Shaoxing companies in the industrial park in Haryana.

5. It may be noted that Shaoxing (located in Zhejiang Province) would be a key focus partner for India in the Eastern China Region in 2016, given the mutual complementarities in the sectors where high priority investments are being facilitated in India.