EVENTS OF THE MONTH
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CII hosts Goa Logistics Summit. CM assures support.
Manohar Parrikar
The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) recently organized the Goa Logistics Summit in Panaji. The welcome address at the summit was delivered by Atul Pai Kane, Chairman, CIIGoa followed by a conference introduction by Dean Menezes, Chairman of the Logistics Conference and Managing Director, CMM Logistics. The theme address was delivered by B Sridhar, Chairman, CII National Committee on Logistics, while the vote of thanks was delivered by Kirit Maganlal, Vice-Chairman, CII-Goa. Conducted in sessions,
the Summit focused on issues concerning road, railway and port connectivity. Speakers included ST Putturaju, Chief Town Planner; Tushar Jani, Chairman, Blue Dart; B Sridhar, Director, Bengal Tiger Line (India); SC Mudgerikar, Chief General Manager (WR), CONCOR; Atul Jadhav, President, Goa Barge Owners’ Association and Suresh Rathi, Head of Infrastructure and Logistics, Sesa Sterlite, among others. Also addressing the crowd was Manohar Parrikar, Honorable Chief Minister of Goa.” He stressed on logistics for all units irrespective of their size while emphasizing the importance of connectivity as a vital aspect of industry. He also assured the public of his government’s role in providing impetus to upgrading logistics facilities in the State. To affirm this commitment, the Chief Minister assured that “Tenders for four-laning the NH17-B, linking Varunapuri
CII dignitaries
to MPT Port will be floating by October and work will be completed in 12 months.” However, he also suggested that the container traffic by train, thanks to spiraling fuel costs, has reduced the viability of sending goods by road, via rail. “In this concept, the trucks are loaded on the railway and ferried from Karnataka to Maharashtra via Goa,” said Parrikar. “This saves them the trouble of using the road,” he added, claiming that he introduced this concept during his earlier tenure as CM of Goa. Tushar Jani added to Parrikar’s statement, “Their aim is to bring Goa under the logistics on a
pan-India basis citing the state’s potential to become important in this sector.” He said, “In five to seven years, Goa can achieve 30 to 40 percent of the vision, making it a gateway for multimodel. The iron ore industry is at a standstill. On the bright side, it is a good opportunity to invest in logistics infrastructure.” He further clarified, “The State has the potential to become an important player for logistics in terms of infrastructure for port, airport and cargo connectivity. Since Goa has done excellently in the hospitality sector, it can do the same for the logistics industry too”
GEMS conducts Budding Entrepreneurs Workshop The Goa Entrepreneurs Mentoring Services (GEMS) Trust successfully organised its first “Budding Entrepreneurs Workshop 1.0” at the EDC House, Panaji. The two day workshop with a thorough schedule of knowledge-sharing for start up businesses was inaugurated by Rohan Khaunte, prominent Goan businessman and MLA of Porvorim Constituency. The guests of honour in attendance were Biju Naik, Asst. Director of Department of Industries, Trade & Commerce and S P Bhat, Managing Director, EDC Goa. The two-day residential workshop contained inspirational talks by successful first generation entrepreneurs, sessions on doing business the right way, talks and inputs on ideating, elevator pitches, branding, advertising, preparation of business plans and presentation skills. Milind Prabhu of Genora said at the event, “The workshop has been a blessing to new entrepreneurs who are guided by more experienced 32 Business Goa
OCTOBER 2013
Praveen Sabnis, Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, Rajkumar Kamat, Biju Naik, Rohan Khaunte, S P Bhat, Atul Naik and Ajay Gramopadhye seen along with the participants
entrepreneurs. This initiative is in turn boosting the Goan economy. I was a budding entrepreneur myself during college. I had good clients, finances and everything required for business but I still lacked mentorship which would have taken me in the right direction. I could have avoided a lot of the business errors that I committed and hence, I believe every budding entrepreneur requires a mentor.” He went on to add, “Currently, my business mentor is Manguirish Pai Raiker. He has been advising me and it has been greatly beneficial.
This workshop is a great way to guide budding entrepreneurs in achieving their potential.” The workshop was attended by 34 young entrepreneurs who registered for the program to receive mentoring in their respective fields of business. GEMS has planned to mentor more than 100 entrepreneurs every year. In a span of 10 years, they plan to have around 1000 entrepreneurs generating employment opportunities for over 10000 people in Goa. It is a conscious effort by seasoned businessmen to give back to the
community by supporting the dreams of young entrepreneurs. Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar attended the workshop on Day 2. The attendees had the opportunity of being inspired, while the CM assured his support for their businesses as well as for GEMS. Parrikar welcomed the mentoring idea as he believes it is the need of the hour for the State. Dr Pramod Sawant (MLA, Sanquelim), the Guest of Honour, appreciated the mentors’ commitment in volunteering for the program. Shekhar Sardesai (President, GSIA) was also present as the Guest of Honour. The GEMS ‘Budding Entrepreneur Workshop 1.0’ was ably supported by GSIA, EDC, DITC, BNI Goa, Business Goa and CIBA Goa. Considering the value derived and the reception received by the participants in response to the workshop, GEMS is now planning to organize more programs of this kind in different parts of the State