FS Indo-German Centre – second Annual Conference

Frankfurt School’s Indo-German Centre for Business Excellence held its second Annual Conference on 22 September on the Frankfurt campus with close to 100 attendees joining. Participants included business representatives, members of the Consular Corps, researchers, journalists and students.

Under the theme Partners in a changing world: Exploring business opportunities for India and Germany, participants discussed different topics related to the three thematic streams of the event:

• Towards a sustainable and green future
• Innovation through startups and entrepreneurship
• Digital transformation and digital finance

The Indian Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Parvathaneni Harish, held the keynote address. He emphasized how both countries could learn and benefit from each other. Whereas India is ahead in areas such as digitalization, biometric identification and online payments, his country could benefit from Germany’s mid-sized companies (Mittelstand) to support the Make in India programme. Professor Hermann Simon, Founder and Honorary Chairman of consulting firm Simon-Kucher, corroborated the keynote’s messages at a panel discussing potential cooperation between German mid-sized companies and Indian startups. Professor Simon pointed out that German Hidden Champions have little presence in India compared to, for example, China.

In addition to six panel discussions, there was ample time for interaction and networking, including a get-together in Frankfurt School’s Campus Lounge, where participants could enjoy a drink and innovative Indo-German fusion cuisine. FrankfurtRheinMain, Partex NV, and ICICI Bank supported the conference as sponsors.

Next year’s Annual Conference will take place on 13 October 2023 on the campus of Mahindra University in Hyderabad.