The event, organized by The Economics Times in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), had on the panel eminent dignitaries such as Dr. Amit Mitra, General Secretary, FICCI, Jawahar Sircar, Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Rajeev Karwal, CEO of Milagrow, Ashok George, Head of Hero MindMine, Sanjay Chakravarty, Head of China Desk, Ernst & Young and Dinesh Aggarwal, Founder & CEO of IndiaMART.com. A question and answer session followed the discussion, where over 200 Small and Medium entrepreneurs currently doing business in China participated.

Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART.com assented with the present guests, “We must make China our partner in growth, as India will be bestowed with multiple opportunities by collaborating with China.” He further listed benefits of doing business online with Chinese and highlighted new areas of co-operation, “As India's economy is growing, numerous international businesses are now interested in selling their products in India. For this IndiaMART.com is planning to launch 'Sell-in-India’ initiative which will cater to the requirements of these businesses.”

The event indicated that as India and China have marked themselves amongst the top industrial mammoths on the global map today, they offer opportunities to each other. Dr. Amit Mitra, General Secretary, FICCI, expressing the same said, “China is an opportunity for Indian companies. However, strong political willpower is essential for a close, transparent and trustworthy business relationship with China. Only by healthy political intervention certain barriers that Indian businesses suffer in China can be overcome.”

The forum encouraged the Indian SMEs to overcome cultural variation and experience the healthy work culture of China. Rajeev Karwal, CEO, Milagrow, reasoned, “We must now also climb up the value chain like the Chinese companies with the same tenacity and vigor.”

The event marked the culmination point of a series of articles on the theme in the Hindi edition of The Economic Times.

About IndiaMART.com

IndiaMART.com is India's largest online B2B marketplace bringing Indian suppliers and international buyers together. Established in 1996, IndiaMART.com is an ISO certified company with state-of-the-art web-development center which is one of the largest in the world. With 1000 employees and a network of 29 offices pan-India, IndiaMART.com offers value service to its 500,000 members and over 5 million global buyers.

IndiaMART's online success has been widely acknowledged by media such as CNBC, BBC, Business Money, CNN, Businessworld, Economic Times, Financial Express etc. Amongst its investors stands tall the Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (Times of India Group), India's largest print media group that has made a strategic investment in IndiaMART.com in 2006.