PRESS RELEASE

To commemorate the 65th Republic Day of India, the Consulate General of India, Frankfurt hosted a Reception on 27th January 2014, at Steigenberger Hof Hotel. On 26 January 1950, the Indian Constitution was adopted with a democratic government system, completing the country\'s transition towards becoming an independent republic. The Chief Guest for the event was Dr. Michael Borchmann, Head of the European and International Affairs Department of the Hessen State Chancellery who was representing the Minister President of Hessen, Mr Volker Bouffier.  Other important dignitaries present were:  Mr. Dieter Beine, Chief of Protocol, Hessen State Chancellery, Mr. Christian Seitz, Mayor of Kriftel, Ms Anja Obermann, Managing Director, Frankfurt Economic Development GmbH, Mr. Eric Menges, Chief Executive Officer of FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH, Dr. Achim Thiel, Police Chief of Frankfurt Police and Mr Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of  Steigenberger Hotels AG.

In his speech, the Consul General of India Mr Raveesh Kumar highlighted the progress made by India in the last 64 years as a Republic. He also touched upon the close bilateral relations that exist between India and Germany and praised the role of Indian diaspora in Germany in strengthening our bilateral relations.

In his speech, Dr. Borchmann mentioned that the Minister President of Hessen State would have come had it not been for the Cabinet meeting which was taking place the same evening. He spoke about the contribution made by Indian companies to the economy of Hessen and urged more investment by India and noted that the Indian diaspora has integrated very well in the State over the years. He said that India, with its extraordinary and very old culture as well as its modern technology, is an impressive country and Hessen is proud of the fact that the Indian community in the state, with more than 7,200 members, is the largest in any German state. People in the state, he said, are delighted about the fact that many Indian companies have established their base in Hessen, including several IT companies. Apart from that, he drew attention to the fact that many Hessian universities are cooperating with universities in India and went on to add that the contact between young people in this connection would help with expanding and intensifying Indo-Hessian relations in the future. Dr. Borchmann concluded his remarks by saying that it is a great honour to have Consulate General of India in Frankfurt, i.e. in Hessen.

India Business Forum, which was formed in November 2013 as a platform to bring together Indian professionals and entrepreneurs was also formally launched on the occasion in a cake-cutting ceremony by the important dignitaries. This was followed by an Indian classical ‘Kathak’ dance performance by renowned artist, Ms. Durga Arya Krueger from Essen.

The event was attended by around 400 people comprising of German businesspersons, media, academicians, senior government officials, representatives from the States, members of diplomatic corps and prominent Indian diaspora.

Frankfurt

January 29, 2014