Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India is organising the 6 th India CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave on 27-28 November 2019 at Yangon, Myanmar.

The CLMV countries have surfaced as key growth points, especially for ASEAN economies giving this region a wider market outreach. The 6th edition will be platform to enhance regional cooperation with a focused assimilation of key players from this region.

Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce & Industry and Railways, Government of India will be joining from India and the Trade & Industry Ministers of the CLMV Countries are also likely to join along with a business delegation from their respective countries.

The Conclave will provide a networking platform to the participants with focused B2B sessions. This edition will also showcase products and services through an exhibition from India and the CLMV countries.

LEADER'S THOUGHTS

The increasing participation of the African nations in the CII led Conclaves and the growing relevance of the platform has given shape to policy dialogues of the Government of India, EXIM Bank and the industry. CII membership has greatly benefited from the platform and as an institution CII has shown its continuing commitment to the relationship.

The Annual CII Conclave in New Delhi is scheduled at the end of the financial year to ensure a strategic push to the agenda evolved during the year through different outbound and inbound activities of CII. Since 2005, CII has organized 14 Regional Conclaves, in Zambia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa, Cote d’ Ivoire, Uganda, Senegal, Tanzania, Namibia, and Nigeria.

The objectives that have guided the participation, deliberations and the growth process of the Conclave have evolved and grown with inputs and recommendations received at each Conclave.

PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS AT 3 LEVELS

• Increasing outreach of information on Indian enterprise in the identified sectors to Africa.
• Increasing interaction between the Indian Industry and Africa to address specific opportunities.
• Discussing possibilities for Indian participation on long term projects.

• Building upon the momentum gathered with the launch of the "India Africa Forum Summit" and taking ahead the actionable agenda put forward during the deliberations.
• Initiation of programs related to capacity building, including resource mobilization for the same.

The essence of the CII Conclave has been to encourage Indian exporters to access the African countries and increase their presence in the region. A measure of success is the large participation at the event. The other measure is the number of B2B meetings that take place and the number of projects that are discussed. 4430 projects have been discussed in the past 14 editions.

This multi-pronged target of increasing trade, investment and developmental activities requires a sustained and concentrated effort. CII continuously works towards keeping up the momentum and keeping the Africa agenda on the forefront of Indian investors and exporters. The growing India-Africa economic exchanges bear testimony to the tangible benefits that has accrued from the high profile engagements at the conclaves. The India growth story has found a significantly larger following in Africa in this period, evidenced by the growing participation of key African delegates at the annual conclaves.