The meeting took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and focused on the 2013 Action Plan
The Spain India Council Foundation Board meeting took place at Torres Ágora (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) and was chaired by Antonio Escámez and attended by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Gonzalo de Benito, and the Ambassador of India to Spain, Sunil Lal. The cessation of José Eugenio Salarich as SICF’s Secretary General and the appointment of Manuel Cacho were the main items on the agenda. The list of patrons and representatives was also updated.
The meeting was mainly focused on the 2013 Action Plan, which describes the activities planned by the Foundation for the coming year. The ‘Bilateral Industry Forum on strategic sectors: Infrastructure and Energy’, planned for autumn next year, is one of the top events and has a clear business focus. Through the Forum, SICF plans to help Indian delegations coming to Spain to become better acquainted with the technology, know-how and expertise of Spanish companies, with a view to forging new links and creating business opportunities.
The Spain India Council Foundation also plans to hold three seminars: ‘Financial and legal services in India: regulation, internationalisation and business opportunities’, ‘Spanish SMEs in India: industry and local business opportunities’ and lastly, ‘Education in India: model, perspectives and opportunities for international cooperation.’ The participation of experts from the two countries and the presentation of success stories will be at the heart of these three activities.
Among the actions in the pipeline for the year to come, the II Future Indian Leaders’ Programme and the II Spain India Council Foundation Award are worth highlighting. Both of these events saw their highly successful first editions take place in 2012.