How did we come to welcome these two guests of honour at the ICUnet.Group headquarters?
Since the ICUnet.Group was founded 23 years ago, our CEO Fritz Audebert has been committed to promoting exchange not only between cultures, but also between science and practice. While the former endeavour is rooted in the founding mission of the ICUnet.Group, he is able to pursue the latter in his role as chairman of the Neuburger Gesprächskreis at the University of Passau. The annual symposium organised by this association on 7 June was dedicated to the topic ‘Incredible India’. It was a great honour to have the two ambassadors as speakers:
H.E. HARISH PARVATHANENI has been the Indian Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany since 6 November 2021. Prior to this, he was Undersecretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, heading the Economic Diplomacy Division, which deals with India's bilateral economic relations with other countries and liaises with all the Indian government ministries of economic affairs in this regard.
H.E. DR PHILIPP ACKERMANN has been the German ambassador to the Republic of India since 24 August 2022. Prior to that, he served for five years as the head of the political department for Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. In short: the combined expertise, because both have years of experience working with and in the German-Indian embassies. No one knows better which screws can be adjusted to promote exchange between Germany and India.
Why was the meeting of both ambassadors in advance at our office in Passau also a real stroke of luck for our company? Our intrinsic motivation is to support our customers in their global endeavours in the best possible way. Consequently, building a worldwide network in the now more than 20 years in the global mobility business has always been an absolute priority. For this reason, maintaining our contacts with the Indian Embassy in Berlin and the German Embassy in India is particularly important to us.
The personal meeting between the two ambassadors was the proverbial cherry on the cake. There is hardly a country more exciting for Germany, our customers and their shortage of skilled workers at the moment, and not only because of India's historical, cultural, geographical, culinary and spiritual diversity. India is the number one when it comes to mathematical, (information) technological and scientific expertise, making it one of the biggest drivers of digital innovation. It is therefore not surprising that 59% of Indians living in Germany are specialists in precisely these ‘MINT’ professions, which are in such high demand in this country.
How can we attract Indian specialists to Germany? At which universities can we find the best talent? How can we ensure a positive welcoming culture? How can the ICUnet.Group contribute to not only smoothing the path to new employers for top talent, but also making it as easy as possible? Where could synergies arise for German-Indian cooperation that would benefit both countries?
All these questions were not only the focus of our discussions with the ambassadors at the Passau office, but also of the subsequent symposium in the former monastery in Fürstenzell.
The conclusion? India, as the world's fifth largest and economically strongest economy, is not only an ‘incredible’ talent hotspot, but also almost ‘inevitable’, to use the words of Ambassador Ackermann.
Martin Wörlein, partner and head of the India team at Rödl & Partner in Nuremberg, said in an interview with the FAZ: ‘India is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide. For example, India has now replaced the USA as the largest mobile phone market (...) nevertheless, time is needed to establish business relationships. Personal meetings are crucial in this process.’
We are looking forward to intensifying our business relations with India in the future and are very excited about the follow-up meetings that have already been arranged!
