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Nov 14, 20173 min read

UK-Karnataka Business Meet 2016 at the UK Parliament, London

Updated: Nov 27

On 24th November 2016 , this summit was organized to promote business activity and partnerships between UK and the Indian state of Karnataka

The Meet

The UK-Karnataka Business Meet 2016 was organized on 24th November, 2016 at the UK Parliament, Westminster, London so as to showcase business opportunities between UK and Karnataka, a state in the South of India. The Business Meet was chaired by British Member of Parliament and Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group Chairman Hon. Mr. Virendra Sharma MP. The other British MPs who participated in the Meet include Hon. Martyn Day MP, Hon. Stephen Timms MP and Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, the only British MP with links to Karnataka. The Meet attracted participation from about 100 companies from the UK and Karnataka, and from the feedback received, the programme was a great success, as it was able to establish an understanding of major business challenges and opportunities in the UK and Karnataka. The Meet also achieved the objective of promoting the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences among current and future business and political leaders from both the regions. A total of 17 speakers shared their expertise during the 4 hours, which had about 100 delegates who had registered to attend.


During the Business Meet, the UK-Karnataka Business Chamber (UKKBC) was launched so as to promote trade and investment between Karnataka and the UK, and to provide a platform for companies and businessmen who wish to become part of the UK-Karnataka trade community. The Brochure of UK-Karnataka Business Chamber was launched by Hon. Virendra Sharma MP and Hon. Rishi Sunak MP alongside UKKABC Chairman Mr. Manjunath Viswhakarma and BSICC Directors Mr. Philip Abraham and Mr. Sujit Nair,FRSA.

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Programme Summary

The first talk of the Business Meet was by Hon. Rishi Sunak MP, who is the only current British MP with links to Karnataka. Mr. Sunak provided a brief overview of UK-India relations and spoke in detail about his relationship with Karnataka and the advantages of doing business in the state.


This talk was followed by a panel discussion about "Starting up / Scaling up in Karnataka (India)", which provided insights into how international companies / global entrepreneurs have been able to start up and scale up their business in Karnataka. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Chris Wiseman, Corporate Development Manager TWI UK Ltd (Moderator) and comprised of Mr. Laurence Croneen, Co-Founder - Deeper Blue Ltd, Mr. Hendrik Van Dord, Vice President - India Economic Trade Organization and Mrs. Pallavi Sundareshan, Co-Founder - Taxbell/ Pallavi Audio.


The larger number of businesses which we have engaged over the years, including the ones who were participating in the summit, were small businesses and one of the challenges faced by a majority of these smaller businesses is access to finance. For the benefits of these businesses, the next talk was by Mr. Antanu Das, Managing Director - Punjab National Bank (International) Limited, who shared his expertise and knowledge about the financing options that are available for small businesses in the UK.


The next panel discussion titled "Advantage Karnataka" focused on the advantages and business opportunities which Karnataka provides for companies who are interested to pursue business activity in the state. Mr. Prabhakar Gowribidanur, Media personality / Television Anchor/ Creative Head - Vaibhav Creations moderated the discussion. The other panelists included Mr. Asif Iqbal, Director - Diplomatic Consular Corps of Karnataka, Mr. Manjunath Karma, Chairman - Aaditya Karma Group; Mrs. Vinoda Prabhakar - Advocate, Karnataka and Mr. Prashanth Raj - Film Director, Karnataka.

The next panel discussion titled "Starting up in the UK for Migrant Entrepreneurs" focused on opportunities & challenges when entrepreneurs from another part of the world try to set up their business in the UK. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Kosta Mavroulakis, Founder & CEO - Empact Ventures/ Campaign Manager- StartUp Britain. The panelists included Mr. Rafael dos Santos, Founder & CEO - Mi - Hub, Mr. Mohan Panguluri, Director - Qapitol QA, Mr. Olly Whittle, Founder - Budipay and Mr. Chandra Mouly, Sales Director, Itti.com.

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