<span style="color: #222222;">Indian business leaders and professionals gathered in Shenzhen, China on Monday to brainstorm on the potential of India's smart cities, smart manufacturing, AI, education, smart mobility sectors at the Forum of Indian Professionals in South China (FIPSC). The forum was organized by India's Consulate General in Guangzhou for the first time to deeply engage with the Indian professionals in Southern China. India's Ambassador to China Vikram Misri inaugurated the forum and called for active participation of FIPSC members in building modern & prosperous India. The event was attended by more than 50 Indian professionals/businesses working in South China who welcomed the idea of a forum for them and thanked the Indian Consulate for organizing it as India is celebrating 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'. Indian professionals from companies such as HSBC, Huawei, Amazon, Infosys, P&G Health, Apple etc. attended the forum and also participated in the panel discussions on potential of India's smart cities, smart manufacturing, AI, education, smart mobility sectors.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> <br />'' Consul General Shambhu Hakki told Prasar Bharati, Beijing that it was an outreach initiative of the consulate to get benefitted from the rich experiences and knowledge of the Indian businesses and professionals in Guangzhou in contributing towards an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. He exuded confidence that FIPSC will play an important role in engaging with the Indian professionals in South China. He said, FIPSC provides a platform to Indian professionals to discuss the issues of interest and could also become a think-tank providing inputs for the various flagship programmes of the Government of India. Since most of these professionals work in the cutting-edge technology sectors, their experience will be precious.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> <br />'' Huge opportunities in 'New India' A participant at the forum and an Indian entrepreneur Niren Anand who owns a footwear design and manufacturing company Evertrade Group in Xiamen, China spoke to Prasar Bharati, Beijing about the new opportunities, India is offering for the industries and businesses. He said, he is all set to start his first manufacturing facility in Khurda district in Odisha in February 2022. With an investment of over 62 crore rupees, the manufacturing unit will be capable of producing 2 million pairs annually and expected to generate direct employment opportunities for about 1500 persons. Indian Footwear domestic market is expected to see 30% annual growth apart from the export business, Niren added. Every trade group entered into an agreement with Odisha Government during the 'Invest in Odisha' event organized in Guangzhou, China in 2019. Consul General Hakki said that consulate has been actively supporting and coordinating such investment promotion events by state governments, however, COVID-related border restrictions have put a break on such events now. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Promotion of Indian Products in China , Ambassador Misri also inaugurated virtually the India Store, an initiative of CGI, Guangzhou to promote Indian products in China. Samples of Indian products in leather, food & beverages, handicrafts, textiles, Ayurveda categories have been exhibited at the India Store. The representatives of Indian businesses took part in a panel discussion, moderated by Consul General Shambhu Hakki regarding the issues related to importing Indian products and ways to further promote the exports from India. CGI, Guangzhou has been working in this direction for the past few months and engaged with Indian business leaders in the region. India faces a huge trade deficit with China as bilateral trade has touched the mark of 100 billion USD in 2021. Consul General Shambhu Hakki said the consulate is also preparing to hold an event on promotion of Indian herbal and Ayurveda products in China.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"><br />'' Guangzhou is a hub for the Indian business community and traders in China who are mainly involved in export-import business. Among the provinces under the Consulate's jurisdiction, Guangdong province has emerged as a hub of China's tech industry. The cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Dongguan have given birth to many big Chinese companies, such as Huawei, Tencent, Oppo, Vivo, TCL, etc. In addition, the region also has the presence of many multinational companies. Many Indian professionals have been employed by the Chinese and multi-national companies in South China.</span><br />''