Indian High Commissioner gives insights to MBA study tour
The current and former High Commissioners to India were welcomed to an information session for MBA students embarking on their annual overseas study tour.
Victoria Master of Business Administration (MBA) students about to embark on a study tour to India were given insights and history backgrounds in a series of presentations at a Rutherford House event last week.
The Hon Sanjiv Kohli, High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, explained the different aspects of India's relationship with New Zealand and told assembled students that the tours like the Victoria MBA Study tour can act as a catalyst in building these connections further.
Around 30 MBA students will travel to India in late April, and the annual International Study tour has become a highlight of the programme.
The background to the tour was outlined by the outgoing MBA Programme Director Dr Arun Elias, who has led trips for the last three years to South India.
"The broad theme of our study tour is to appreciate that 'India is a land of contrasts'. So, we explore the vibrant, rich India along with the pale, poor India," he said.
In his presentation the former New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Graeme Waters, pointed out that New Zealand’s trade with India is one-tenth of its trade with China. He hoped that it could increase to one-fifth in the near future.
Students were also given a brief history of modern India by Professor Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, Director of the New Zealand India Research Institute, who explained that "modernity in India is a complex phenomenon, rooted in the history of the country".