The four-day global expo and summit Vibrant Tamil Nadu - Food Edition 2018, which commenced here on Sunday, saw delegates participating from more than 20 countries, a number of whom were Indian-origin entrepreneurs and consultants who were keen to build business partnerships in India.
Ravi Ragupathy, Founder Chairman, South Indian Food and Film Festival Australia, who left the country 21 years ago, said a motivation to contribute to his country of origin, particularly to Tamil Nadu, made him come to the expo. “There are a number of avenues for mutual partnerships between India and Australia that can be beneficial to both the countries,” he said.
Sundaresan Subramanian, Chief Executive Officer, Consult Subi, who had come from the US, said that food habits in the US were changing with many people preferring to try new cuisines. “Importantly, they are becoming very health-conscious,” he said.
Stating that the changing trend provided good scope for companies in the food sector in India to export their products, he said that the Indian companies can in turn learn from cutting-edge technologies available in the US in agriculture and food processing sector.
Kanmani Dhanasekar, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu, South India Chamber of Commerce - Canada, said that her objective was to showcase opportunities available in Canada for bilateral trade since there was less awareness of doing business in the country despite it being one of the largest exporter of agricultural products, particularly lentils.
The expo also saw many representing foreign enterprises intending to expand their businesses to India. Isnawaty Arsyad, a marketing professional representing Bijin Kumita Mutiara, a Malaysia-based company involved in production and trading of vegetables, fruits and palm oil, said that though the company was doing business in Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and other countries, it was yet to make inroads into India. “We thought this expo will be a good opportunity to build ties with Indian companies to do business,” she said.