The high-level gathering was made up of participants who were able to bring very different perspectives on the relationship between politics and business.
The viewpoint of the Indian government was represented as well as that of the health industry, the education sector, the clothing industry and the financial sector. Members of the IGAL (Indo-German Association for Legal cooperation) and representatives of the German embassy and the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce were also present.
Mr. Rakesh Bakshi, a well-known figure from the field of renewable energy & Senior Member of FICCI International Council opened the round and explained that the discussion was under the motto “building democracies”. He also emphasized the importance of sustainable technologies and referred to the “great opportunities” that Indo-German relations offer.
Christian Hirte, emphasized the advantages of a market economy and referred to the good bilateral understanding between Germany and India. However according to him, there is still a lot of potential that has not been exploited yet.
While Nalin Kohli (national spokesman for the BJP) emphasized the importance of transparency and predictability for the economy, Mr. Deepankar Tiwari highlighted the significance of innovations for sustainable economic growth.
Representatives from various branches of industry presented the opportunities, priorities and challenges of their respective industries and thus enriched the debate.
There was a basic consensus that democracy was the ideal form of government for a successful and stable economic system. But politics and business will have to do more to preserve democracy.
In his closing words, Mr. Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative of the KAS India office, depicted the EU as a role model. Their emergence and successful integration would not have been possible without the economic cooperation between the former arch rivals Germany and France.
All in all, the event offered an exciting insight into various topics related to economic policy as both, macro-level issues (such as possible global implications of the coronavirus) and micro-level issues (tangible bureaucracy reduction), were discussed.