On Tuesday, December 17th, the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce hosted a familiarization meeting at the Chamber’s office in The Valley, where Dr. K.J. Srinivasa was introduced to a cross section of the business community.
Dr. Srinivasa is the High Commissioner of India based in Guyana. In this capacity, he represents India in the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis (as well as Guyana) In addition, Dr. Srinivasa is India’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Further, Dr. Srinivasa has been named the Consul General of India to Anguilla. Chamber President, Mrs. Vida Richardson, welcomed Dr. Srinivasa, wished him success in his exploratory visit to Anguilla, and said that she was already looking forward to him returning to our shores.
Following his introduction, Dr. Srinivasa invited those around the table to identify themselves, and then sought to explain the benefits that would be gained by Anguilla if connections were made with India — as a source for supplying its business, commerce, educational, medical and pharmaceutical needs.
Dr. Srinivasa explained: “I am here as part of a mandate to see how best we can work together with the local businesses in the areas of trade, commerce and investment with India. This could be bilateral trade, or it could be routed through some other country. I understand that the Caribbean, on a whole, accounts for about US$450 million dollars of trade annually with India, which is far below the potential of all these countries, especially in the light of existing services such as in the hospitality industry and infrastructure.”
He said part of his mission on this visit was to gain an idea of how business owners feel about investing with India, and he would also like to hear concerns of possible roadblocks which business owners feel might hinder or curtail such investments.
He reported that he was able to convey to the Government of Anguilla the fact that the Government of India was granting three scholarships this year for study in India for three to six weeks duration. He noted that these would be short term courses in IT, Finance Management, Journalism, Parliamentary Affairs, Education, Banking, Tool Design, etc.
Concerning the distribution of the scholarships, the Doctor said: “We are normally required to submit these scholarships to Government Ministries to administrate. However, in the case of Anguilla we can make an exception in that we can give one slot for the private sector. Our main concern is that our financial year ends in March, and so these scholarships must be made use of by the end of March.”
He said that for next year he will engage the scholarships based upon demands and requests. He determined that, in that regard, he would be working closely with the Chamber of Commerce to gather what the interests are like in the various areas of study.
In terms of business links with India, the general concern from persons around the table was in the area of shipping and logistics. Concern was raised regarding importing goods from so far away as India into Anguilla. However, Dr. Srinivasa suggested that the most convenient way to circumvent this hurdle would be to ship directly from India to Miami and then transship the goods from Miami directly into Anguilla. He said the best approach would be for merchants to cooperate and make orders for goods together, so that in most cases one or two containers would be consigned to these merchants who would then divide the merchandise according to their requirements. This idea was generally welcomed.
Medical services and pharmaceutical supplies were also areas that Dr. Srinivasa said were ready to be tapped into in India. It was established that India has some of the world’s best doctors. It was also established that specialized medical treatment for Anguillians is rather expensive and medication is correspondingly costly.
Dr. Srinivasa remarked: “Being a doctor myself, I can say that India has been the global leader in pharmaceuticals and generic medicines. In fact, countries like Africa has been benefiting immensely from the low cost of Indian medicines. In Guyana, the aniti-HIV program of the UN is funded by the Government of India. Besides, we have been able to supply medicines to several areas around the world that have been affected by natural disasters.
“I understand that in Anguilla the cost of medicines is very high and there is a lack of medical facilities and treatment locally. What I have witnessed, is where there are good areas of employment, Indian doctors do not stay behind. There are many colleagues of mine who are doctors from India all across the Caribbean. Here they are either doing training or practicing their profession to benefit Caribbean societies” He noted that besides the availability of proficient doctors, India’s medicines are quite affordable.
In addition to business, investments, educational and medical pursuits, Dr. Srinivasa also suggested collaboration with India in the area of tourism. He strongly advised that the Tourism Board here should take advantage of tapping into India as a lucrative market. He said many of his friends and individuals in well-to-do circles would be quite interested in coming to Anguilla as a relaxing destination where the beaches are so pristine. He suggested it should be quite profitable for Anguilla to find a marketing rep in India and then go there to conduct a few roadshows.
Overall, the meeting with Dr. Srinivasa was quite worthwhile, and those who attended walked away with some thought provoking ideas with regard to taking potential links with India seriously
Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
