Bestemming India

Transcription

Bestemming India

faces
Faces international is a magazine published by Asset | Accounting & Finance for student members, alumni, relations of Asset | Accounting & Finance, and other persons interested
i n t e r n at i o n a l | y. 14 | winter 2013
Bestemming India
Het succes van outsourcing in Accountancy
Maar persoonlijk contact met de klant en de regie van de audit zal nooit aan de andere kant van de wereld gebeuren
In addition:
Interview with Marc van der Hooft, Head of Large Corporates ING Vysya Bank Mumbai
Interview with Jack Leenaars, founder DelhiByCycle
advertising
Dear reader,
amount of insight about
business in India by visiting
ING Vysya Bank, AkzoNobel,
Bloomberg, Bombay Stock
Exchange and one of Delhi’s
leading accounting firms
called Manoj Pahwa & Associates –Chartered Accountants.
The program was a perfect
mixture between culture and
business.
On behalf of the Advisory
Board of the Studytour 2012,
I would like to thank the committee, under the supervision
of Tom Janssen, for organizing an amazing Studytour to
India; Coen Tomesen, Sander
Verberne, Roel van de Ven,
Paul Hanique, Tijmen Kampman and Ruben Tax , you did
a fantastic job! Furthermore,
I would like to thank the
participants, companies and
institutions for their contribution to this Studytour.
Without them, it would have
been impossible to organize
such a great experience.
In the meanwhile a group of
enthusiastic students started
with the organization of a
new edition. Like every year,
the most important step
to take is to decide upon a
destination. Will it be one of
the BRICS again? Or will it
be a PIGS country (Portugal,
Italy, Greece, Spain) instead?
At this moment the Studytour Committee is about to
choose its next destination.
Curious? Visit our website
www.Studytour.nl for more
information!
3
Introduction
In front of you lies the International edition of Faces. This
edition is completely devoted
to the beautiful country of India. As you might know, this is
not a coincidence. Every year,
study association Asset | Accounting & Finance organizes
a Studytour to an interesting
destination somewhere in the
world. This year the committee chose to travel to India.
During a period of two weeks,
28 students visited Mumbai,
New Delhi, and Agra. Without doubt, India is a good
complement to the previous
editions of the Studytour that
visited Beijing & Shanghai
(2009), Cape Town (2010) and
Rio de Janeiro & Sao Paulo
(2011).
Like the previous edition, the
Studytour of 2012 visited
a BRIC country. Goldman
Sachs, the institution which
coined the acronym BRICs
to define Brazil, Russia, India
and China as a formidable
economic grouping, says that
by 2050 the bloc will overtake
the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) of all developed economies. In December 2010, the
four BRIC countries invited
South Africa to join their informal grouping, turning BRIC
into BRICS. (So, technically
the Studytour visited three
BRICS countries in a row!)
As mentioned, India is growing rapidly. Moreover India
has already started producing more additional GDP
than Germany. At the last
G20 meeting, the European
countries looked upon India
for help in dealing with the
financial crisis. Thirty years
ago this was unimaginable,
but it now points to the inevitable. In the past 15 years,
India’s trade with the U.S.
and Japan has been almost
stagnant, but that with China
has almost doubled every
four years and is expected to
touch $100 billion by 2013.
India is a country of the
future; hence it is a perfect
Studytour destination.
Next to a perfect destination,
the organizational effort is of
great importance in order to
organize an amazing Studytour. Moreover, the organization of a successful Studytour
is not that straightforward.
It is like being a chef in a
Michelin-starred restaurant.
Obviously, point of departure
is the collection of the appropriate ingredients. After that,
you need some excellent
cooking knowledge. Putting
the right cooking knowledge
together with the appropriate
ingredients and you will be
able to prepare a delicious
dinner. It is somewhat identical with the organization of a
Studytour. First, you need to
gather a number of enthusiastic students. After that, you
need some creative brains.
Conclusively, putting the
right students together with
some creative brains and it is
a guarantee for an amazing
Studytour.
The Studytour committee
has managed to transform
a regular study trip into an
indescribable experience for
every participant. The committee managed to visit the
Elephanta Caves, the slums
of Dharavi, the Gateway of
India and the Haji Ali Mosque
in Mumbai. In New Delhi, the
committee arranged visits
to the Askhardham Temple,
Humayun’s tomb and the
Lotus Temple. The finishing
touch was the visit of the Taj
Mahal in Agra. Next to some
extended culture tasting,
students were given a great
Rik van Maanen
Chairman Advisory Board
2012
INTRODUCTION
words from the Advisory Board
FACES INTERNATIONAL | Y. 14 | P. 3
INDEX
Collaborators:
M. van der Hooft MSc., R. Liedenbaum MSc.,
V. R. Bhathena and Dr. A. Srinivas, J. Leenaars
MSc., Drs. M. Van Dooren and R. Jadwani
MSc., L. de Vries, A. Goerke, A. Arora, V. R.
Bhathena and Dr. A. Srinivas, G. Gosar, T.
Janssen MSc., M. de Jong, D. Grancharov, R.
Zhen, F. van der Linden, C. Tomesen BSc., P.
Hanique BSc., M. Buijs, J. Wierda BSc., R. van
Maanen BSc., J. Box BSc., R. van de Ven BSc.,
S. Verberne
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About Faces:
Faces is a magazine published by Asset |
Accounting & Finance for student members,
alumni, relations of Asset | Accounting &
Finance, and other persons interested.
Nothing from this edition of Faces may be
copied and/or made public using press,
microfilm, photocopy, or whatever other
means, without authorization from the
board of Asset | Accounting & Finance.
FACES
international edition, winter 2013
Editorial
ARTICLES
Lessons to be learned
Heart of smart solutions
Cultuur en religie
5
Summary
Editor in Chief
Tijmen Kampman
Copy Editor
Paul Hanique BSc.
Editors
Ruben Tax, Coen Tomesen BSc., Roel van de
Ven BSc., Sander Verberne
Layout
Mark Koevoets
Printing
Orangebook almanakken&verenigingsbladen,
www.orangebook.nl, info@orangebook.nl
ISSN
1566-225X
Circulation
1100
7
14
22
26
Interviews
Marc van der Hooft
Robbert Liedenbaum
Jack Leenaars
8
30
37
OPINIONS
Open culture
When I recall India
Life on JNU campus
12
29
40
CONTRIBUTIONS
Business for dummies
Stock exchange
Working at...
Column
Message from abroad
Campus life
Overview of activities
Travel report
19
20
34
42
45
47
48
51
On the internet:
www.Asset-AccountingFinance.nl
And on the main social network:
www.facebook.com/AssetAF
30
EDITORIAL
pag.
BESTEMMING INDIA
Het succes van outsourcing in Accountancy
Door Robbert Liedenbaum MSc
Article
Article
Heart of smart solutions
Lars de Vries tells us about
his work at Brabant Development Agency (BOM). He
works in the Foreign Investments department as project
manager; he tries to interest
foreign companies to expand
their business to Europe with
for example a start-up in
Brabant. When this succeeds,
he provides them services to
smoothen the establishing
process. P22
Article
Cultuur en religie
Op de vele reizen die de auteur heeft gemaakt door India
viel haar steeds op hoezeer
religie deel uitmaakt van het
leven van iedere Indiër en het
leven van iedere Indiër bepaald. Ongeveer 80% van de
Indiase bevolking is Hindoe.
Het Hindoeïsme kent geen
stichter, geen dogma’s, geen
kerk. Deze oude godsdienst
is gebaseerd op het naleven
van morele regels, rituelen en
gebruiken. P26
Interview
Marc van der Hooft
Marc van der Hooft works in
India as Head of Large Corporates at the Corporate Office
of ING Vysya Bank in Mumbai.
In this interview we discuss
doing business in India and
Marc’s personal story about
working in India. P8
Interview
Robbert Liedenbaum
Tijdens zijn verblijf in Chicago
maakte Robbert Liedenbaum,
werkzaam als Senior Manager
binnen de Audit afdeling van
KPMG te Amstelveen, kennis
met het uitbesteden van werk
aan India. Terug in Nederland
zag hij dat ook in ons land
hieraan behoefte bestond.
Een persoonlijk verslag over
zijn ervaring met het uitbesteden van werk aan india. P30
Interview
Jack Leenaars
Jack Leenaars is the founder
of DelhiByCycle. As a former
South Asia correspondent he
arrived in New Delhi in 2003.
Before he founded DelhiByCycle, he travelled through
the Indian subcontinent for
the Telegraaf, radio and other
Dutch media, a boys dream!
In this interview Jack tells us
everything about how he created DelhiByCycle and what
he likes so much about New
Delhi. P37
Column
A visit to Dharavi
Reality Tours and Travel is
an ethical tour operator in
Mumbai that conducts slum
tours, dedicated to raise social awareness and to break
down the negative attitude
many people have towards
slums and especially their
residents. The organization
puts the money they collect
with the tours right back
into the slum community of
Dharavi - one of Asia’s biggest
slums and destination of their
signature slum tour. P42
7
Contents
Lessons to be learned
While the United States and
Europe are suffering from
the global financial crisis,
India is still going strong.
Boasting high GDP growth
numbers, India is a force to
be reckoned with. Vispi Rusi
Bhathena, CEO Bombay Stock
Exchange Brokers’ Forum
and Dr. Aditya Srinivas, COO
Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers’ Forum give their opinion
about the crisis and India’s
position in the world. P14
Last October, the Studytour 2012 group of Asset | Accounting & Finance visited the beautiful cities Mumbai,
New Delhi and Agra in incredible India. I am convinced
that every one of us will cherish their memories of this
unforgettable experience. For two weeks, we visited
interesting companies and participated in breathtaking
cultural activities, making it the ultimate mix for exploring
a foreign culture and country. However, this magnificent
trip was not possible without the dedication and hard
labor, in any form, of several different parties.
At first, I would like to thank all the companies and institutions that welcomed us, and the persons who took care of
us and have spoken to us in the Netherlands as well as in
India. The visits to the PSV Academy, Bloomberg, Bombay Stock Exchange, ING Vysya Bank, AkzoNobel, Manoj
Pahwa & Associates (Chartered Accountants), Jawaharlal
Nehru University and the Dutch Embassy, in cooperation
with the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, were a
great success due to their enthusiasm and commitment.
Therefore, I would like to thank all of the companies and
our contact persons. Without their efforts and support,
we would never have experienced the business and cultural life as intensively as we did now and Studytour 2012
would not have become such a great success.
I would also like to thank AkzoNobel for their interesting
workshop, prior to our departure. In particular, I would
like to thank Goral Gosar from AkzoNobel Amsterdam for
introducing us to her beautiful country, but also for sharing her experiences in doing business in India in comparison to doing business in the Netherlands. Thank you once
more, for your commitment to our Studytour!
Furthermore, I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this edition of Faces International, in particular the
writers of the articles and columns and the participants in
the interviews. We are very grateful that you were willing
to support us by putting together this magazine.
Conclusively, I want to show my gratitude to the board
of Asset | Accounting & Finance and the Advisory Board
of the Studytour 2012. They gave us the opportunity to
organize this marvelous Studytour and they have always
been of great support to us. Their knowledge and experience contributed greatly to the success of this year’s
Studytour. Furthermore, I want to thank the participants
for their enthusiasm and energy during our stay in India.
Finally, I want to thank my fellow Studytour Committee
members for their amazing efforts and dedication this
year. Their support even made this year’s Studytour overtop last year’s edition. I am not reluctant to say, that I am
very proud of what we have accomplished this year.
Coen Tomesen
Chairman Studytour 2012
ing
vysya
bank
india
mumbai
by Roel van de Ven BSc
and Sander Verberne
8
Interview
Marc van der Hooft is Head of Large Corporates at the Corporate Office of ING Vysya Bank in Mumbai
During our stay in India,
the Studytour group visited
several companies. One of
these companies was ING
Vysya Bank in Mumbai. While
visiting ING, we got in contact
with multiple employees from
different offices. In the morning we visited the Flagship
branch in Cuffe Parade and in
the afternoon we visited the
Corporate Office. Therefore,
we got insight in all the different aspects of ING’s business
in India.
on the subject development
economies and environmental studies. At that moment
in time, most studies were
not internationally oriented.
While the majority of the
students chose the pure
economic path during their
studies, Marc deliberately
focused on the international
aspect within his studies
since he wanted to gain more
knowledge about developing countries and emerging
markets.
One of the persons we met
was Marc van der Hooft.
We wanted to know more
about Marc’s career and his
motivations to work in India
and interviewed him to gain
answers to all of our questions.
His work for the NGO differs
significantly from his current
work, but there are also similarities. It is all about making
a difference to people; both
jobs are definitely people
businesses. That is what Marc
is enjoying in his work.
Marc van der Hooft graduated in 1993 from Erasmus
University Rotterdam, where
he studied Business Economics. Currently, Marc works
in India as Head of Large
Corporates at the Corporate
Office of ING Vysya Bank in
Mumbai.
After graduating, Marc served
compulsory in the military.
He was officer at the Royal
Dutch Air Force and finished
his military service in 1994.
The international character
of the army attracted him.
Therefore, after his military
service, he wanted to work
abroad. Due to lack of work
experience he did not manage to find a suitable position
abroad. Marc decided to start
working as sales manager for
Randstad in the Netherlands.
After one and a half year
he got the opportunity for
a career switch to another
multinational in the position
of assistant group controller.
Career
Marc conducted an internship in India for a nongovernmental organization
(NGO) during his studies as
part of his master degree.
The NGO’s objectives were
to encourage sustainable
development and to support India’s poorest people.
He was involved in a project
to help small electro plating
entrepreneurs to implement
waste minimization and pollution prevention measures.
Marc used this internship in
writing his master thesis.
During his Master’s, Marc
chose some elective courses
Later, Marc successfully
started his own advisory company. In June 1997, he joined
ING Retail as a relationship
manager Sales & Marketing Executives and after 12
months he was promoted
to branch manager of ING
Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel.
However, he kept on dreaming about an international
career.
Therefore, in 2002 Marc
moved to ING’s Wholesale
Bank (currently called Commercial Bank) in order to
increase his chances of an
international career since this
branch is much more internationally oriented. He realized
that multinationals prefer
to hire ‘local for local’, which
means that companies prefer
to hire locals, since they know
the people, business, clients
and culture better than
foreigners do. This made
Marc realize it was required
to differentiate himself from
others to get hired abroad.
The road to a position in India
was long and cumbersome.
To be applicable for a foreign
position, Marc started to
distinguish himself. His goal
was to make it interesting for
ING to send him in particular
abroad. He switched sectors and applied for a job in
London, but the efforts were
fruitless.
Marc started lobbying to
increase his chance to go
abroad. By means of talking
to the decision makers in
sending employees abroad,
he tried to get a foreign position. In the beginning, Marc
did not know which persons
he needed to talk to for his
desired position. It took him
quite some time to find out
how the decision process of
foreign positions works. The
main lesson Marc learned is
that you are in charge of your
own future.
The lobbying resulted in an
introduction to the CEO of
ING Asia. Many months later
Marc was approached by the
same CEO again for his current position within ING Vysya
Bank. For him it was ‘the’
perfect opportunity to make
his dream come through.
Moreover, it was a perfect
match with his background
and work experience. Marc
had the feeling that he could
add something to ING Vysya
Bank and make a difference
in an emerging country. Marc
and his wife moved to Mumbai, India in January 2012.
History of ING Vysya Bank
In 1930 Vysya Bank was
established in Bangalore.
Vysya Bank grew sharply to
become the largest private
sector bank in India. In 2002,
the global financial powerhouse ING took over the
management of Vysya Bank
and changed the name to
ING Vysya Bank Ltd. No other
non-India bank has such a big
stake in an Indian bank.
The bank has two divisions: wholesale and retail.
Marc’s job is to manage a
team, which gives advice on
financial solutions such as
cash & liquidity management,
balance sheet optimization
and Merger & Acquisition.
His team’s clientele consist of
Indian large corporates with
a minimum total turnover of
250 million Euros per annum.
The large corporate team he
got to lead already consisted
of highly educated people,
but the performance was far
below expectations.
Since Marc’s arrival the team
has made a turnaround and
performance wise it is now
one of the fastest growing
teams within the bank. Key
success factors have been:
focus, empowering people,
facts
Did you know that:
Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called ’the Ancient
City‘ when Lord Buddha
visited it in 500 B.C., and is the
oldest, continuously inhabited
city in the world today.
Martial Arts were first created
in India, and later spread to
Asia by Buddhist missionaries.
Yoga has its origins in India
and has existed for over 5,000
years.
The name ‘India’ is derived
from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the
home of the early settlers. The
Aryan worshippers referred to
the river Indus as the Sindhu.
The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name
‘Hindustan’ combines Sindhu
and Hindu and thus refers to
the land of the Hindus.
Algebra, Trigonometry and
Calculus are studies, which
originated in India.
enhanced client coverage
and training on the job. Marc
has benefited a lot from
his extensive experience in
dealing with large corporates
and his people management
skills. Another advantage he
has is his knowledge of the
European market and his European network. Many Indian
large corporates intend to expand to the European market
or already have operations
in Europe. Marc’s knowledge
is of great value for these
companies.
His main objectives are becoming relevant to the team’s
customers (amongst the top
3 most preferred banking
partners), the bank in terms
contribution to the bank’s
results and his team by shifting from product selling to
solution selling.
Differences
Marc has observed quite
a few differences between
Dutch and Indian co-workers.
He is impressed by the incredible work ethics, enormous flexibility and analytical
skills of the Indians. Planning
and working in a structured
way and looking at things
from a broader perspective
are things where the Dutch
are good at.
Life Objective
Marc’s main life objective is
living his life to the fullest.
He wants to achieve this by
being flexible and considering each option that crosses
his path. Marc wants to keep
developing himself. He is very
ambitious and wants to be
successful too.
He finds his assignment
rewarding because he feels
that he is building something
sustainable and is making a
difference. Apart from that,
his team has made enormous
progress in terms of performance over the last twelve
months, he has also experienced that his team members are growing as human
beings and professionals.
That excites him even more.
Marc’s advice
Marc’s basic advice to students is to follow your heart
and dreams. Do something
what really excites you. Subsequently, one should start
with making an assessment
of what his or her strengths
and weaknesses are. With
these insights you can determine a road map to make
your dream come true.
Marc’s experience with Dutch
students is very positive. They
are open-minded, creative
and pro-active. These competences in combination with
their ability to put things in
broader perspective make
them extremely valuable for
international companies.
This is definitely competitive
advantage.
Final words
Marc considers ‘experiencing
India’ as the most exciting part of his assignment.
India has so much to offer:
extreme diversity, delicious
food, culture (festivals!), an
amazing history, colorful
people and much more. We
want to thank ING Vysya Bank
for the opportunity to visit
their office in Mumbai and in
particular Kavita Kurup, Minar
Jadhav, Amit Bagri, Sophia
Boloor and Marc van der
Hooft for the organization of
the day and their hospitality.
The world’s highest cricket
ground is in Chail, Himachal
Pradesh. Built in 1893 after
levelling a hilltop, this cricket
pitch is 2444 meters above
sea level.
Ayurveda is the earliest
school of medicine known to
mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated
Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
India exports software to 90
countries.
Jainism and Buddhism were
founded in India in 600 B.C.
and 500 B.C. respectively.
Islam is India’s and the world’s
second largest religion.
Jews and Christians have lived
continuously in India since
200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively.
Sikhism originated in the Holy
city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden
Temple, the city was founded
in 1577.
by goral gosar
Open culture:
a necessity for
multinationals
opinion
For the preparation of
the Studytour from Asset
Accounting & Finance the
participants attended a workshop by Goral Gosar from
AkzoNobel. AkzoNobel is a
large multinational specialized in Paintings, Coatings
and Specialty Chemicals. The
company is well positioned in
India with over 1.700 employees throughout the country. During the workshop,
Gosar provided a presentation about AkzoNobel and its
business in India. At the end
there was time for a Q&Asession about the differences
between Indian and Dutch
ways of doing business, the
cultural varieties and more
daily topics like food and
sports. Having received this
information, the group of 28
students was well prepared
to visit the AkzoNobel factory
in Mumbai. During this visit
the students experienced
themselves what AkzoNobel
is all about. After a short
information session a guided
tour was provided through
the factory floor. Local employees spoke about their
work and the difficult process
of making the best paints and
coatings available. In the remainder of the article Gosar
elaborates on AkzoNobel and
her career at the company.
Working for the world’s largest global Paints and Coatings
Goral Gosar is an
employee at AkzoNobel
and she is currently
working in Amsterdam
Company provides a multitude of experiences – not
simply work experience.
While I was completing my
MBA, I secured a four-month
internship at AkzoNobel’s
Bangalore plant in India.
It was my first taste of the
AkzoNobel culture and it gave
me a chance to observe and
learn various cross-functional
activities on the shop floor
– Planning, Production, Quality Control and Warehouse.
The aim of my project was
to increase the production
efficiency and create better
information sharing between
those departments. A year
later, when I received an offer
from AkzoNobel India Ltd.
“
What really sets AkzoNobel
apart is the company’s
ability to recognize that
what’s good enough for our
customers today may not
be good enough for them
tomorrow
“
13
Opinion
AkzoNobel is a place where everyone is valued, where
everyone counts, and where everyone can be the best
at what they do
(then AkzoNobel Coatings
India Pvt. Ltd), it was a very
easy decision to accept. I
joined AkzoNobel India Ltd. in
December 2010 as Business
Support Executive working
on areas such as Demand
Planning, Forecasting, Sales
Reviews and Budgeting.
Exposure to the sales and
forecasting side makes one
appreciate what really drives
“business”. An understanding of the operations side
meanwhile makes one realize
what it takes to “make” and
“deliver” products.
After working in Bangalore
for about a year, we were
informed about a major
company-wide performance
improvement program and
a related position in Amsterdam. My first instinct was
to apply. Over the next two
months, I found myself waving goodbye to family, friends
and country and – I now
realize – to Indian food. It has
now been ten months since
I moved to Amsterdam – my
first international assignment
– and I am enjoying every bit
of it. This two-year project
has given me an opportunity
to observe AkzoNobel from a
whole different point of view.
My team thrives to reduce
complexity at every step in
the value chain in order to
increase the synergies within
the Business.
What I like about the culture
in AkzoNobel (both in the
Netherlands and India) is
that it is very open. One of
the company’s core values is
the “Courage and Curiosity to
Question”. I have seen people
apply it and I have seen
people encouraging others to
apply it. AkzoNobel’s geographically and commercially
diverse businesses present
a sea of opportunities – to
help you challenge and grow
yourself. I am truly in the
driving seat when it comes
to plotting the course of my
career. My manager is also
genuinely interested in my
growth and development –
willing to go the extra mile
to make things happen for
my career goals. There are
people willing to guide and
mentor you. AkzoNobel is a
place where everyone is valued, where everyone counts,
and where everyone can be
the best at what they do. The
innovative working environment encourages one to
think out of the box. Did you
know that AkzoNobel is in
partnership with the McLaren
Group – providing the coatings for their fastest cars?
Wimbledon’s centre court
roof is coated by AkzoNobel
products. One out of every
three aircrafts is coated with
an AkzoNobel product. What
really sets AkzoNobel apart is
its ability to recognize what’s
good enough for our customers today may not be good
enough for them tomorrow.
That’s why we focus on our
customers’ futures first. Tomorrow’s Answers Today. Jim
Collins, in his book “Built to
Last”, talks about the “Tyranny
of the Or” – for example: how
most companies feel that
they either focus on cost
or on quality. What amazes
me is AkzoNobel’s ability to
focus on innovation and the
environment. Focus on profits and keep the customer
happy. Ensure the company’s
growth and keep an eye on
the growth of its employees.
Vispi Rusi Bhathena
is CEO Bombay Stock
Exchange Brokers’ Forum. Dr. Aditya Srinivas
is COO Bombay Stock
Exchange Brokers’
Forum
While the United States and
Europe are suffering from
the global financial crisis,
India is still going strong.
Boasting high GDP growth
numbers, India is a force to
be reckoned with. Vispi Rusi
Bhathena, CEO Bombay Stock
Exchange Brokers’ Forum
and Dr. Aditya Srinivas, COO
Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers’ Forum give their opinion
about the crisis and India’s
position in the world
GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
By Vispi Rusi Bhathena and Dr. Aditya Srinivas
LESSONS TO BE LEARNed
World Economy facing Tough
Times
The global financial markets
are witnessing one of the
worst times ever in history,
with the problems in the
Eurozone not taking a positive turn. Also on the domestic front, the inflation and
interest rates have created
havoc. The corporate profitability went down by 34.9%
in September 2011. The U.S.,
the world biggest economy,
safe heaven asset classes, like
Gold and Silver.
Borrowing cost of Developed
Countries
Table 1 clearly shows that the
world G7 countries are loaded with debt. Therefore, this
is the main reason why these
economies are aptly called
as “Leverage Economies”,
because they already have
huge deficits. With this type
of debt capital it would not
is already struggling with a
high unemployment rate of
9.8% and as a consequence
facing tough times. The global
G7 countries’ borrowing
costs rose to $7.6 trillion with
around $200 billion getting
matured in 2012.
This creates severe financial implications on the real
economies and also on the
stock markets, as Foreign
Institutional Investors and
Hedge funds will resort to
16
Article
be easy for them to come out
of these problems in short
term. This has implications
on the other world economies and also on the stock
markets who are feeling the
heat of the Eurozone and US
problems. The Indian Sensex
and Nifty gave negative returns to the tune of 21% and
24%. This has been the worst
performance measured so
far. India fortunately does
not have much debt and this
has been our main strength.
The countries resilience is
due to the low external debt,
which protected the Indian
economy in the 2008 and the
2011 crises when the world
witnessed huge slowdowns.
During these periods we
have managed to register the
GDP growth of 6.9%, which
is far better compared to the
established economies.
Unemployment rates in the
Eurozone
The Eurozone is facing many
problems. Table 2 shows that
the unemployment rate is
rising. This has far reaching
implications on these economies, as spending power
of the people will decrease,
which in turn would drag
the GDP on the downward
side. The debt to GDP ratio
of Greece is 144%, Germany
78%, France 83.5% and UK
76%. These ratios show that
these economies are loaded
with debt and it would take
a long time to restructure
these economies and bring
them back on track.
India’s USP
Indian Economy has been
able to perform very well in
the global financial crisis of
2008. The world economy
grew at 1 to 2% GDP, while
the Indian Economy grew at
6.8%. This shows the resilience of the Indian economy
when there is a downtrend
in the world economy. The
three main strengths of the
Indian economy are shown
below. These strengths ensure that the Indian Growth
Story will continue in the
upcoming years.
n 70 % of working population
is below 35 years of age.
This ensures that there
is a huge pool of working
population. They will ensure that the expenditure
level remains stable in the
economy. The increasing
expenditures result into
an increase of the disposable incomes. This creates
demand for goods and services in the economy. The
GDP of any country which’s
function of demand would
depend on the spending
power of the people. The
young working population ensures that there
is no dearth of spending
and this would mean that
economy continues to
clock good growth rate.
n Inherent Consumption
and non-Export Oriented.
Indian Economy has been
an inherent consumption
oriented economy with
86% of the total production getting consumed
in the country itself and
exports accounting for only
14%. This ensures that
even if the world economy
slows down, India is in a
self sufficient position and
in no case would face any
slowdown. The EU, China
and Japan all are export
oriented economies. This
became even clearer
when the US witnessed a
slow down, because these
economies immediately
came into a recession.
n The Indian savings rate
is 37%, the highest in the
world (World Avg. 24%).
Indian people are known
for their saving rates and
these have been the highest in the world. As savings
result into capital formation, and capital formation
results into investments.
This saving phenomenon
of Indians has helped the
economy to sail through
the tough times in 2008
and also in 2011.
The companies shown in
Table 3 are some of the best
companies of the Indian
corporate world. They have
increased their cash reserves
to a considerable extent from
2008 on, when the world
faced its first recession and
then again in 2011. They have
increased their cash reserves
to much higher levels. This
ensures that Indian corporates are safe enough to fight
any kind of slowdown in the
economy.
Impact on Real Economy
Indian Economy was able to
show resilience to the world
economy recession, which is
very evident from the above
mentioned data. The Economy was able to register the
Growth, even when the world
economy was into recession.
The domestic consumption
theme that came to the support of the Indian economy
is that they not dependent
on exports and are able to
manage their selves. The
World economy also took
notice of this and was able
tables
table 1. Borrowing cost of Developed Countries
Country
Japan
US
Italy
France
Germany
Canada
Brazil
UK
China
India
Russia
Debt in US $
3,000
2,783
428
367
285
211
169
165
121
57
13
Source:
The Economic Times, Mumbai dated 4th January 2012
table 2. Unemployment rates in the Eurozone
“
The countries resilience
is due to the low external
debt, which protected the
Indian economy in the 2008
and the 2011 crises when
the world witnessed huge
slowdowns
“
to appreciate it. As we have
seen, in 2009 and 2010 there
was a record inflow of the
Foreign Institutional Investors who had pumped in
huge money in the markets.
The world economy was able
to understand the inherent strength of the Indian
economy and the resilience
it was able to display when
the world economy was into
deep recession.
The Real economy, which is
measured in terms of GDP,
showed that the world was
having a negative growth
rate of -1.2% while India still
could manage a growth rate
of 5.3%. Conclusively, this is
a very healthy sign and this
was received positively by the
global fraternity.
Country
Austria
Germany
Czech Republic
Sweden
UK
Italy
France
Poland
Hungary
Ireland
Greece
Spain
Jobless %
4.0
5.5
6.7
7.4
8.3
8.6
9.8
10.0
10.7
14.6
18.8
22.9
Source:
The Economic Times, Mumbai dated 9th January 2012
table 3. Indian Corporates sitting on Cash reserves
Company
Coal India
Reliance Ind.
ONGC
NTPC
SAIL
Tata Steel
2008
20,961
4,474
25,055
15,360
13,933
4,231
2011
45,862
30,192
28,688
17,859
17,747
10,892
Source:
The Economic Times, Mumbai dated 10th Nov 2011
BUSINESS
FOR DUMMIES
With 1.2 billion inhabitants
and an impressive economic growth, India offers an
enormous market for foreign
companies. A market that covers more square kilometers
than Europe and contains
sixteen official languages,
eight major religions, and
twenty-eight states. India is a
diverse market, which cannot
be seen as one. Although it
is difficult to generalize, this
article will walk you through
several factors that have to
be taken into account when
doing business with Indian
companies.
One important factor is that
there are many official languages in India, but communication is done in English. One
reason is that the majority of
the highly educated Indian
people speak this language perfectly. Furthermore,
English is a neutral language
that does not have connotations that other local languages may have.
India is a hierarchical country,
which is mirrored in Indian
company structures. This
means that top management
makes the decisions and
distributes orders down the
chain of command. Lower
management follows these
orders without arguing, even
if they think that the orders
are incorrect. Since middle
managers cannot influence
decision-making, dealing
with them probably means
a waste time. It is therefore
best to have contact with top
management.
Many multinationals have
been trying to introduce a
more flat and more egalitarian structure to their Indian
subsidiary in order to align
it with their other offices.
This may prove difficult in a
country where hierarchy is
unquestioningly accepted. It
is not impossible to change,
but it requires patience and
investments in communication and training.
Nowadays, hierarchy is more
important than gender: women are accepted in higher
management positions and
lower management will follow their orders. Still, men
occupy most of the high-level
management positions.
This hierarchy is also clearly
noticeable in teamwork,
which differs from what we
are used to in Europe. The
team leader gives detailed
instructions to the team
members. Similar to the
orders given by top managements, these instructions
are followed exactly without
questioning. The team leader
is completely responsible for
the success and failure of the
team and will keep strong
control of each part of the
process. Indian team-members love to receive positive
feedback but find negative
feedback very difficult to
handle and do not view it as
an opportunity to learn and
improve themselves.
Building relations is very
important in the Indian business culture. A good relationship is essential with people
who you are doing business
with. Indian people use
intuition, feeling, and faith to
guide them. This means that
topics of conversations may
vary from the latest business
news to cricket. It is important to show interest in your
business partners during
these small talks. In meetings,
you will also find the instigation to build a relationship.
Meetings are typically informal and could be interrupted
by unknown persons, who
enter the room and start a
top management makes the
decisions and distributes
orders down the chain of
command, Lower management follows these orders
without arguing, even if they
think that the orders are
wrong
conversation about unrelated topics. Attendants could
interrupt the meeting by
answering their cell phones.
In these situations, the best
advice is to stay patient and
never disclose your frustration and irritations regarding
the situation.
Paul Hanique BSc.
is Master Student
Accounting
On our trip, we experienced
that Indian people find it difficult to decline a request. You
need to cautiously observe
a person’s body language
and utterances like “We’ll try”,
“possibly” or “Yes, but it may
be difficult”.
As the etiquettes of doing
business in India clearly differ
from European norms. When
you conduct business with Indian people, it is useful to be
aware of these differences.
Furthermore, the etiquettes
can differ between areas,
and you should therefore
not hesitate to investigate
the local etiquettes before
approaching a potential business partner. When you keep
these factors in mind, doing
business in India should
become easier and more
successful.
etiquettes
Doing business in India
20
STOCK EXCHANGE
role
of
indian
government
stock exchange
The Bombay Stock Exchange is the barometer of the Indian economy
By Vispi Rusi Bhathena and Dr. Aditya Srinivas
Indian stock exchanges have
more than 135 years of history, including the formation
of the first stock exchange
called as the Native Share
and the foundation of the
Stock Brokers Association in
1875. This is now known as
the “Legendary Bombay Stock
Exchange” which is considered as the “Barometer of the
Indian Economy”.
The stock exchange was
formed as an association of
persons, and had membership fees of Rs. 1. It had 318
members at the time of formation. Currently, BSE is the
world second largest stock
exchange with more than
5,500 companies being listed.
“It is also credited as the
oldest stock exchange of Asia
and of India.” Today, stock
exchanges are seen as the
catalyst to the change in the
economy, with the government itself committing to the
programme of disinvestment.
Disinvestment is the theme
of the Indian government
to raise funds for reducing
the fiscal deficit. The fiscal
deficit is the gap between
the government income and
expenditure. Currently, the
fiscal deficit has become 5.7%
of the GDP which is much
higher than the comfort
region of the government.
Internationally, the target for
fiscal deficit is round 3% of
the GDP.
Indian government has more
than 250 Public Sector Units
which are not listed on the
stock exchanges. The government has set a target of Rs.
30,000 crores (approximately
4 billion Euros, red.) to be
raised from the disinvestment proceeds, in order
to reduce the fiscal deficit
and to increase the country
growth rate. With the rising
number of working population in the country, more than
70 % of the working population is younger than 35 years.
Therefore, it is imperative
that there are enough jobs in
the economy to absorb this
kind of productive labour.
The government wants that
more entrepreneurs come
to the stock exchanges to
enlist their companies and
raise money to expand their
businesses. This creates
more jobs in the country and
makes the economy more
sustainable.
Indian stock exchange BSE
has also initiated a small- and
medium sized enterprises
segment, called as the SME
for the small companies, to
get themselves listed on the
stock market. Currently, there
are about 30 million SMEs
registered with the govern-
“
The government wants that more entrepreneurs come to the
stock exchanges to enlist their companies and raise money to
expand their businesses
ment. These SMEs play a
vital role in the economy, as
they create jobs in the lower
section of the society which
is very much required. The
SMEs segment started by
the BSE, ensures that more
entrepreneurs are able to
enlist their companies on the
SME segment. Consequently,
these companies can expand
their business.
stock exchange to get listed
was the MCX-SX. Now even
the BSE is planning to list itself on the exchanges before
the end of the financial year.
In conclusion, the Indian government is playing a proactive role in the development
of the stock exchanges and
they are ensuring that more
investors will come to the
markets.
The Indian government has
been keen on ensuring that
the stock market participation
in the country goes up. Currently, only 15 million people
out of a 1.2 billion population
invest in equity markets. The
household investments in
the stock market, along with
mutual funds, are only 3%.
In contrast, in the developed
countries this ratio is around
35%, which is very high.
Indian government has also
been playing an instrumental
role in ensuring that Foreign
Institutional Investors (FII)
invest in large numbers in the
Indian markets. As on 30th
June 2012, there are 1,756
FII registered with the Indian
capital market regulator,
the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI). The Indian government has recently
allowed foreign individuals to
invest directly in the Indian
stock market from a foreign
country. Under the new
category of Qualified Foreign
Investor (QFI), an individual
foreign investor can invest
into the Indian stock markets
by obtaining the Permanent
Account Number card (PAN
card).
Indian government has been
very keen on developing
the stock market by spreading the investor awareness
programmes in tier II and tier
III cities. The year 2012 saw
Foreign Institutional Investors
investing $ 21 billion, which
made the Sensex give 26%
return which is the highest
among the BRIC nations. This
is due to the proactive steps
taken by the government in
the economic reforms. The
recent passage of the FDI
bill in the parliament has
given lot of confidence to
the foreign investor that the
Indian Government is very
serious with the reforms
parts. Government has been
able to sail through important
reforms in the parliament this
winter, which has lifted the
mood in the stock market.
The controversial GAAR has
also been postponed by the
government, which has given
a major relief to the Indian
stock market and also to the
foreign investors. The FII are
now comfortable investing in
the Indian markets as there
is tax clarity. The government is very keen on the
listing of the stock exchanges
and also allowing more new
exchanges, so that there is
healthy competition in the
financial markets. This will
Indian government recently
allowed the listing of stock
exchanges. The first Indian
“
result into better investor
servicing. The budget of 2013
February is also viewed by
the stock market as a major
event from the Government
side to provide various kinds
of relief to the stock market.
The recent launch of the Rajiv
Gandhi Equity scheme b the
government is a major boost
to the new investors as it
provides for 50 % tax benefit
for the amount of investment
of Rs. 50,000 (approximately
700 Euros, red.).
This would make the new
investors come to the market
and also would provide
the required depth in the
economy. This step of the
government would certainly
provide a lot of benefit to
the stock market, since large
number of new investors
would be attracted due to the
tax benefit provided for the
direct investment in the stock
market. Therefore, Indian
government has been very
active in the development of
the stock market and also for
the betterment of the investors.
Vispi Rusi Bhathena
is Chief Executive
Officer Bombay Stock
Exchange Brokers’
Forum. Dr. Aditya Srinivas is Chief Operating
Officer Bombay Stock
Exchange Brokers’
Forum
heart of
smart
solutions
Tekst: C.J.H.M. Tomesen
en R.B.M. van de Ven
On January 10, 2013, Lars de
Vries was interviewed about
his work at Brabant Development Agency (BOM). Lars de
Vries works in the Foreign
Investments department as
project manager; he tries to
interest foreign companies
to expand their business to
Europe with for example a
start-up in Brabant. When
this succeeds, he provides
them services to smoothen
the establishing process.
BOM aims to strengthen
the industrial and economic
structure of Brabant. The
Coen Tomesen is bachelor student
Accounting and Roel van de Ven is
master student Accounting
Foreign Investment Opportunities
for Indian Companies in Brabant
organization was established in 1983 and is funded
and financed by the Dutch
national government and the
Province of Brabant. BOM
Foreign Investments services
include a complete foreign
investment promotion and
acquisition program. They
facilitate foreign companies’
direct investment in Brabant; whether developing a
first European presence or
optimizing existing European
operations, companies can
obtain information, strategic
perspective and practical
assistance from BOM’s business professionals. They have
helped hundreds of foreign
companies initiate or expand
operations in Brabant, by
providing a high quality service to any company interested in establishing activities
in Brabant.
As happened within economic recessions in the
past, numerous companies
in high-growth industries in
developing countries around
the world find themselves in
a recovery mode, and start
looking for opportunities to
catapult themselves to top
positions in global markets.
This could be a flywheel
for Indian outsourcing and
manufacturing companies
to invest in the European
market, set-up near shore
delivery centers, production
and R&D facilities in the Netherlands, and benefit from the
innovation and knowledge
capital present in the Brabant
region.
Despite the present global
downturn and the cost-cutting measures accompanying
it, Europe remains one of the
23
Aricle
“
Brabant is geographically
centrally located with
an excellent physical
infrastructure that
provides quick and easy
access to all European
markets
largest economic areas in the
world, accommodating a population of over 600 million
inhabitants with increasing
buying power, and relevant
know-how and technologies.
Moreover, Indian goods and
services are often essential
ingredients for improving the
cost-effectiveness of supply
chains and business processes for European businesses.
Indian companies should
consider to invest in a physical, first and small presence
in Europe in order to further
explore the opportunities
and expand their client base
in Europe at the same time.
Now that valuations are low,
also a strategic acquisition
would be a valid solution.
Key hubs for international
business
The Netherlands is certainly
one of the best locations to
act as a key hub for international business. The country
is geographically centrally
located with an excellent
physical infrastructure that
“
provides quick and easy access to all European markets.
Paired to an international
business environment, a
business-friendly tax, incentive and regulatory climate, a
highly educated and multilingual workforce and an enviable quality of life, it makes
the Netherlands and ideal
investment destination within
Europe.
The Brabant area, in the
southern part of the Netherlands, is well known as a
logistics hotspot, strategically
located between the ports
and airports of Rotterdam,
Antwerp, Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, and has also proven
to be able to develop one
of the few technology and
innovation open ecosystems
in the country. In and from
this area, Brabant offers easy
access to research institutes
and universities, innovative
technologies and design,
more than 16.000 technology
researchers and research
partners, as well as to important markets throughout
Europe. The Brabant region
forms the nerve centre of
the Dutch High Tech and
automotive industry - here
international collaboration is
intensifying every year on for
example the High Tech Campus Eindhoven and the High
Tech Automotive Campus
in Helmond, where knowledge, research, test facilities,
education and businesses
are brought together in an
open environment. More
than € 2,5 billion is spent in
research and development
in the Brabant region, which
accounts for more than 50%
of R&D spending in the Netherlands. Many multinationals,
such as Philips Electronics,
NXP, ASML, Fuji Film and Daf
Trucks Paccar have R&D facilities in Brabant.
Indian companies in Brabant
At the moment there are
some 20 Indian companies
who have set-up in Brabant.
Although active in various
sectors, a major part of the
active companies is is a consequence of Dutch multinationals deciding to outsource
activities or business functions. This being cost-efficient
or in line with their strategy
to focus on core-business.
The battle for talent is also
putting constraints on the labor market, which in this case
is an opportunity for Indian
outsourcing companies to acquire new business. Furthermore, a predominant used
strategy of Indian companies
is to acquire these departments, with the advantage
that a substantial part of the
clientele is already acquired.
Therefore, they already receive a solid base to expand
their activities in the Netherlands or Europe.
Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) choose Brabant
The best proof of the attractiveness of Brabant is the
establishment of Tata Consultancy Services’ Hi-Tech Center
of Excellence in Eindhoven
in the spring of last year. In
doing so, TCS was the first
Indian IT company to set-up a
delivery centre in the Netherlands that provides high-end
“
The best proof of the
attractiveness of Brabant
is the establishment of
Tata Consultancy Services’
Hi-Tech Center of Excellence
in Eindhoven in the spring of
last year
“
consulting services, application management and development and support services
to leading corporations such
as NXP Semiconductors and
Rabobank. The company
started with an initial staff of
50 employees, both Indian
and Dutch. Long-term focus
is to serve multiple Benelux
customers from this centre.
The progressive business culture, excellent infrastructure,
the openness of the Dutch
society as well as the strategic growth market in Brabant
and beyond are important
factors in the success of TCS
in the Netherlands. Apart
from TCS, also companies
such as Moserbaer, Satyam,
Wipro and Minda are active in
the Brabant region.
BOM Foreign Investments:
access to Brabant
TCS has been supported in
the successful establishment
of its Eindhoven operation by
BOM Foreign Investments.
It goes without saying that
all Indian companies with
plans to expand in Europe
from a Brabant location can
benefit from BOM’s business
professionals, who provide
services such as fact finding
trips, matchmaking, access to
relevant information and networks, all free of charge and
on a confidential basis. In the
last five years, BOM supported close to 100 foreign in-
vestment projects in Brabant.
BOM Foreign Investments
hosts investment seminars
in India, in close cooperation
with the Netherlands Foreign
Investment Agency (NFIA).
During these seminars BOM
has several purposes. One
of them is to maintain the
contacts in India and invest
in new contacts. A pro-active
approach is used during the
preparations, meaning that
the organization observes
companies in India a make a
selection of potential investors. These potentials receive
special attention and are
invited to these seminars. On
the other hand BOM Foreign
Investments maintains the
contacts with headquarters
of companies who already
did an investment in Brabant.
Indian companies in Brabant
At the moment there are
20 Indian companies set-up
in Brabant. This is a consequence of Dutch multinationals deciding to outsource
several of their departments
to other parties. Furthermore, a predominant used
strategy of Indian companies
is to acquire these departments, with the advantage
that a substantial part of the
clientele is already acquired.
Therefore, they already receive a solid base to expand
their activities in the Netherlands or Europe.
CULTUUR EN RELIGIE
niet te scheiden
“
Op de vele reizen die ik
heb gemaakt door India viel
mij steeds op hoezeer religie
deel uitmaakt van het leven
van iedere Indiër, het leven
van iedere Indiër bepaald.
Ongeveer 80% van de
Indiase bevolking is Hindoe.
Het Hindoeïsme kent geen
stichter, geen dogma’s, geen
kerk. Deze oude godsdienst
is gebaseerd op het naleven
van morele regels, rituelen en
gebruiken.
Dat gebeurt ook. Rijk of arm,
jong of oud, communist of liberaal, hoog opgeleid of niet,
iedere Indiër begint de dag
met het zeggen van gebeden,
het offeren van wierook, bloemen etc. In de tempel, op het
huisaltaar of op de plek waar
men zijn beroep uitoefent.
De taxichauffeur in zijn taxi,
de arts in zijn behandelkamer, de theeverkoper in zijn
kleine winkel. Iedere Indiër
heeft min of meer impliciet
de overtuiging dat dagelijkse
offergaven en gebed voorwaarde zijn voor goed en
succesvol leven.
Naast het uitvoeren van rituelen is de andere pijler van
de religie de beoefening van
ethische beginselen, de “do’s
and don’ts” voor het dagelijks
leven. Dat klinkt voor de westerling hoogdravend. Voor
de Indiër is het als het ware
zijn tweede natuur om actief
vooruitgang te willen te boeken in deugdzaam leven. Het
niet pijn doen van de ander,
geen schade toebrengen aan
jezelf, tolerant zijn, zelfs voor
zaken die je niet welgevallig
zijn, afzien van bedrog en
leugen, etc. Dit alles met het
doel om een grotere geestelijke onafhankelijkheid te
verwerven, negatieve gevoelens te boven te komen die
het gevolg zijn van dagelijkse
teleurstellingen en gefrustreerde verwachtingen.
De BBC toonde onlangs een
reportage over het gedwongen vertrek van 55.000
Indiërs uit Oeganda in 1972.
Idi Amin, toenmalig president
van Oeganda, verdreef alle
Indiërs met achterlating van
al hun bezittingen in een
tijdsbestek van 9 dagen.
Velen waren goed opgeleid,
verdienden een goed salaris
in de bankensector, hun
Rijk of arm, jong of oud,
communist of liberaal,
hoog opgeleid of niet,
iedere Indiër begint de dag
met het zeggen van gebeden,
het offeren van wierook
en bloemen
“
Drs. Marianne van Dooren is theoloog
afgestudeerd in de Sociale en Politieke
Ethiek
facts
Did you know that:
India is the world’s largest,
oldest, continuous civilization.
India is the world’s largest
democracy.
India never invaded any
country in her last 1000 years
of history.
India invented the number
system. Zero was invented by
Aryabhatta.
When many cultures were
only nomadic forest dwellers
over 5000 years ago, Indians
established Harappan culture
in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley
Civilization).
There are 300,000 active
mosques in India , more than
in any other country, including
the Muslim world.
Sanskrit is the mother of all
the European Languages.
De taxichauffeur in zijn taxi, de arts in zijn behandelkamer, de theeverkoper in zijn
kleine winkel. Iedere Indiër heeft de overtuiging dat dagelijkse offergaven en gebed
voorwaarde zijn voor goed en succesvol leven
DOOR Drs. Marianne van Dooren
Sanskrit is the most suitable
language for computer
software - a report in Forbes
magazine July 1987.
Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
India is one of the few
countries in the world, which
gain independence without
violence.
India has the second largest
pool of Scientist and Engineers in the World.
eigen businesses, overheidsdienst of als professional.
Omdat ze een Engels
paspoort hadden, was de Engelse overheid verplicht hen
tijdelijk te huisvesten. De Indiërs waren evenwel niet overal
welkom. De gemeenteraad
van Leicester zette bijvoorbeeld een advertentie in “The
Uganda Press” die niet veel
te raden overliet: ”It is in your
own interest and those of
your family … not to come to
Leicester”. Desondanks slaagden deze Indiërs erin hun
leven weer op te pakken en
waren velen van hen opnieuw
succesvol in hun businesses.
Zij wisten zich aan te passen
aan hun nieuwe land.
Premier David Cameron
stelde in september jl. deze
duizenden Indiase immigranten die in Engeland arriveerden na hun deportatie uit
Oeganda ten voorbeeld in
het parlement. Hij zei dat ze
een buitengewone bijdrage
hebben geleverd aan het
Britse leven. De stad Leicester is nu - 40 jaar later - van
plan de Indiase gemeenschap
publiekelijk te bedanken voor
de transformatie die de stad
heeft ondergaan dankzij hun
komst. Bovenstaande zegt
veel over het aanpassingsvermogen en wendbaarheid van
deze groep Indiërs.
In de reportage van de BBC
zijn de slachtoffers aan het
woord. Met dankbaarheid
kijken zij terug op de opvang
die ze van de Engelse over-
heid kregen. Zij benadrukken
de hulp die ze ontvingen om
hun leven weer op het goede
spoor te brengen.
Het belang van hun eigen
handelen en inzet laten zij
aldus onderbelicht. En ze
gaan voorbij aan de grote
zorgen en het verdriet die ze
destijds gehad zullen hebben
vanwege hun gedwongen
vertrek uit Oeganda. Deze
reactie weerspiegelt de
houding die ze waarschijnlijk van meet af aan hebben
gehad, geconfronteerd als zij
werden met hun lot: probeer
de toekomst vorm te geven,
wees verdraagzaam en draag
je handelen op aan God. De
inspiratie hiervoor zullen zij
waarschijnlijk ontleend hebben aan hun religie.
India is the only country
other than US and Japan, to
have built a super computer
indigenously.
India has the largest number
of Post Offices in the world
The largest employer in the
world is the Indian Railways,
employing over a million
people.
India was one of the richest
countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus,
attracted by India’s wealth,
had come looking for a sea
route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
The Vishnu Temple in the
city of Tirupathi built in the
10th century, is the world’s
largest religious pilgrimage
destination. Larger than either
Rome or Mecca, an average
of 30,000 visitors donate $6
million (US) to the temple
every day.
When I recall India…
we asked Ritu Jadwani several times for advice and we used her network in India to arrange company visits
“
29
“
Ritu Jadwani is an
Indian student of the
Master Global Innovation
Management. Ritu studied
for one semester in Aixen-Provence in the South
of France, as part of her
master’s program. I met
Ritu in the lecture room
of the university, as an
enthusiastic, thoughtful and interesting
personality. When I came
back in the Netherlands
and joined the Studytour
committee we asked Ritu
several times for advice
and we used her network
in India, to arrange
company visits. On behalf
of the committee I would
like to thank Ritu for
this role during the
process of organizing
Studytour 2012. – Roel
van de Ven BSc.
Opinion
India, a mystical land, does
not constitute only of snake
charmers and farmers, but
rules the software industry
with its IT hub in Bangalore
and the stock exchange
market in Mumbai
As I drive home in the crowded roads of mid-town New
York, I pass by people, scores
of diverse people, dawning
separate fashion attiresas
they walk past the yellow
cabs on the zebra crossing.
My mind races back to the
streets of Ahmedabad, my
home town in India as I notice a stark contrast between
the two cities. I recall camel
carts passing as they transport grains and fruits and
cows sitting by the street.
A plethora of bicycles and
scooters weaving through the
trafficky roads with musical
honks and grey haze in the
air. Men dressed in dhotis
and woman adorned with saris and beautiful thick plaited
hair! Street vendors selling
the local favorite ‘pani-puri’,
‘dabeli’, and ‘vada pau’ ...aaah
my mouth starts to water as
the spicy tangy flavours start
to build up in my mouth and
I long to go home and satisfy
my taste buds.
India, a mystical land, as they
call it, does not constitute
only of snake charmers and
farmers, but rules the software industry with its IT hub
in Bangalore and the stock
exchange market in Mumbai.
The state of Tamil Nadu dominates the artificial hair wig
industry, as millions of people
offer their hair to God at the
Tirupati Temple. The world
gets its cotton from states
of Gujarat and Maharashtra;
and steel from Chattisgarh
and West Bengal. Amusingly,
the country transitions into
a different panorama with
every 25 kms you travel as
industries change and landscapes emerge. With 28 states
where each has a local language and each language has
various dialects, its so diverse
that a Delhite could easily
be lost in the southern state
of Kerala; Yet, so culturally
connected that a Gujarati will
feel very much at home with
the delicious rosogollas in
Calcutta. Tie dye, block print,
embroidery, lace work, and
mirror work, you name it and
we have the cottage industry
for these ancient crafts in the
modern world. The Rajasthan
region creates beautifully
carved wooden furniture and
blue ceramic pottery, while
the Kashmiris weave intricate
Cashmere shawls to guard
the cold winds. Hyderabad
dominates the pearl industry
and the villages of Assam
weave sophisicated baskets
out of wick and cane. Plethora of crafts and artisans can
be spotted as they come
together at the famous Delhi
Haat in New Delhi or the
Colaba Causeway in Mumbai
to sell their elaborate wares.
Metros, busses, scooters,
cars, cycles-rickshaw and
rickshaws take the 1.2 billion
to work as they travel trough
summers of 40 degrees and
monsoon of 66 centimeters
rain! We drink hot milk tea
with sizzeling ‘pakodas’ when
it pours and jaggery ‘chikki’
when we get cold! The chilled
‘chaas’ and watermelon juice
rule the summer food stalls.
Uttarayan kite flying festival
brings with it ‘til laddoo’ and
Diwali lights up with ‘barfi’
and ‘kachori’ ... As October
brings in the festival of dance,
Navratri, I wish you all Dutch
students an adventurous
discovery trip to India, as 500
words is too less to describe
the magical land!
Bestemming
India
door Robbert Liedenbaum MSc
Robbert Liedenbaum over zijn ervaring met het
uitbesteden van werk aan india
Robbert Liedenbaum MSc is Senior Manager
Audit bij KPMG
Tijdens zijn verblijf in Chicago maakte Robbert Liedenbaum, werkzaam als Senior
Manager binnen de Audit
afdeling van KPMG te Amstelveen, kennis met het uitbesteden van werk aan India.
Terug in Nederland zag hij
dat ook in ons land hieraan
behoefte bestond. Samen
met collega Esther Oomen,
ook werkzaam als Senior Manager binnen de Audit., kreeg
hij groen licht voor een pilot.
Nog geen jaar na de aftrap
telt het team in India inmid-
dels 36 man. “Iedereen is een
functie omhoog gegaan.” Een
persoonlijk verslag.
“Waarom gaat een mens
werken in het buitenland? In
mijn geval waren er eigenlijk
twee simpele redenen om
in 2007 voor twee jaar naar
Chicago te gaan. De ene is
dat het kon, de andere is dat
ik het wilde.
Binnen KPMG werk je vaker
voor klanten die sterk internationaal georiënteerd zijn.
Als service provider moet je
daarin meegaan. De mogelijkheid werd mij daarom
geboden te gaan werken op
het KPMG-kantoor in Chicago. Daar – Chicago huisvest
de belangrijkste optie- en
grondstoffenbeurzen – kon
ik aan de slag voor enkele
klanten waarvoor ik ook al in
Nederland actief was.
Uiteraard leek het mij
daarnaast ook gewoon leuk
en interessant om naar het
buitenland te gaan, voor mijn
professionele zowel als mijn
persoonlijke ontwikkeling. Ik
denk dat iedereen zich wel
eens de vraag heeft gesteld –
en anders moet je dat zeker
doen – hoe het is om in een
andere cultuur en werkomgeving te opereren.”
Dossierkwaliteit
“Wat mij van mijn tijd in Chicago vooral is bijgebleven, is
de veel grotere nadruk op de
dossierkwaliteit. Zoals iedereen weet kennen de States
een echte claimcultuur. Ook
accountants letten er daarom
extra scherp op dat hun niets
32
Interview
kan worden verweten, mocht
er iets misgaan. Dat betekent
dat de controle op het strikt
navolgen van regels veel sterker is en dat werkelijk alles
in het auditproces duidelijk
en volledig wordt vastgelegd.
Voor alle duidelijkheid; ik heb
ervaren dat deze werkwijze
geen nadeel is. Ik merk dat
standaardisatie de efficiëntie
en transparantie van het controleproces sterk ten goede
komt. Verder is Amerika
precies wat je ervan voorstelt:
alles groot en mensen maken
veel langere werkdagen.
Vooral doordat het sociaal
leven meer is geïntegreerd
met het zakenleven. Maar
om echt te begrijpen wat dat
betekent, moet je een keer
zelf langer in het land zijn
geweest.”
KPMG Global Services
“Waar ik in mijn Chicago-tijd
ook mee kennismaakte, was
de Amerikaanse variant van
KPMG Global Services (KGS).
In Amerika is het al langer
praktijk om auditwerkzaamheden naar ondermeer India
uit te besteden. Complete
delen van de autditprocessen waarbij ik was betrokken,
werden op locatie in ondermeer India uitgevoerd. En
eigenlijk merkte je daar niks
van; de samenwerking verliep
altijd vrijwel vlekkeloos.”
Businessplan
“Terug in Nederland merkte ik
eigenlijk pas wat dat betekende. Hier kostte het me veel
meer tijd het werk georganiseerd te krijgen. Zeker in de
drukke periodes komen we
altijd mensen te kort. Dan
‘lenen’ we veel medewerkers
van buiten Financial Services
en soms ook van buiten de
auditpraktijk. Die collega’s
mogen dan voor twee, drie
weken het ‘saaie’ werk doen.
Terwijl bij mij het idee aan
het uitkristalliseren was deze
problematiek anders aan te
pakken door ook in Nederland met offshoring aan
de slag te gaan, liep ik mijn
KPMG collega Esther Oomen
tegen het lijf. Ook zij was
net terug van een verblijf in
Amerika, in New York in haar
geval, en had en heeft dankzij
haar werk voor corporate
clients een internationale
kijk op zaken. Ook zij bleek
met het idee te spelen om
met offshoring aan de slag te
gaan. Samen hebben we toen
een businessplan uitgewerkt
en dit voorgelegd aan de
Raad van Bestuur.”
Team extension
“Anders dan tot nu toe in
Amerika – en trouwens ook
gedeeltelijk in het Verenigd
Koninkrijk – gebruikelijk is,
waren we vanaf het begin
van mening dat we niet
moesten gaan voor het
model van business proces
outsourcing, het uitbesteden
van specifieke onderdelen
van het controlewerk aan
een shared services center
aan de andere kant van de
wereld. In plaats daarvan ging
onze voorkeur uit naar het
model van team extension. In
dat geval zijn onze collega’s in
India een integraal onderdeel
van het auditteam. Hierdoor
kunnen zij, daar waar nodig,
worden ingezet op veel verschillende werkzaamheden.
Waar BPO vooral draait om
het verlagen van de kosten –
je doet hetzelfde in een land
met lagere lonen – gaat team
extension veel meer om het
verbeteren van de kwaliteit.
In ons geval zitten de Indiase
collega’s veel meer in een
ondersteunde rol. Zij kunnen
de Nederlandse teamleden
helpen bij het uitvoeren van
bijna alle onderdelen van de
audit en dus ondersteuning
bieden daar waar dit nodig
is. Wij kunnen ons daardoor
toeleggen op de zaken die er
echt toe doen: het klantcontact en de lastige, niet-standaardiseerbare vraagstukken.
Een ander voordeel van deze
werkwijze is overigens dat
de standaardwerkdag langer
wordt: zeg 14 in plaats van 8
uur. Daardoor kunnen we de
klant niet alleen betere maar
ook snellere dienstverlening
bieden.”
Ons team
“De pilot die we februari 2011
zijn gestart, was vanaf het
begin een succes. Waar we
begonnen met 12 man, is
het team in Gurgaon (bij New
Delhi) na minder dan een jaar
inmiddels uitgegroeid tot 36
man sterk. Het is de bedoeling om de komende dit team
verder uit te breiden naar
ongeveer 60 man.
Pionierswerk
“Dat de pilot zo’n groot succes is, wil echter niet zeggen
dat de weg er naartoe zonder
vallen en opstaan verliep.
Een van de zaken waar echt
veel meer tijd in is gaan zitten
dan we vooraf in hadden geschat, was het risicomanagement. Daarbij ging het vooral
om het zorgvuldig omgaan
met klantdata. Om de privacy
van klanten te beschermen,
bestaan er allerlei wetten en
regels. Die regelgeving is echter niet geschreven op een
accountantskantoor dat een
deel van zijn werkzaamheden
in India wil laten uitvoeren.
Daar hebben we in samenwerking met onder andere de
Quality & Risk Management
Group als KPMG dus echt
pionierswerk moeten verrichten om alles solide in te
richten.
Uiteindelijk is dit gelukt, maar
dat was van tevoren zeker
geen uitgemaakte zaak. Al is
het maar omdat we gezien
alle obstakels makkelijk
hadden kunnen verzanden
in het blijven opstellen en
aanpassen van onze plannen.
“
Waarom gaat een mens
werken in het buitenland?
In mijn geval waren er twee
simpele redenen om naar
Chicago te gaan. De ene is dat
het kon, de andere is dat ik
het wilde
“
Dan waren we uiteindelijk
geen stap verder gekomen.
In dit soort gevallen, moet je,
als het kan, gewoon doen.
Juist als je de risico’s goed
managet, moet je voor de
overige zaken ondernemen.
Ik durf te zeggen dat we dat
hebben gedaan.”
Klantcontact
“Natuurlijk liepen we ook bij
collega’s tegen vragen en
weerstanden op. Gaat straks
niet al ons werk naar India?
En als we juist de meest
basale werkzaamheden
uitbesteden, blijven er dan
nog instap- en ontwikkelmogelijkheden over voor onze
juniormedewerkers? Beide
vragen zijn logisch. Voor het
uitbesteden van alle werkzaamheden hoeven we niet
bang te zijn, al is het maar
omdat judgemental werk en
het Nederlandstalige werk,
wat toch nog steeds een
substantieel deel van onze
omzet is, niet uit te besteden
valt. Daarnaast zal het klantcontact uiteraard nooit vanuit
de andere kant van de wereld
kunnen worden verzorgd, laat
staan de regie op de audit. En
wat de werkzaamheden van
juniormedewerkers betreft,
tijdens de pilot heb ik juist
gemerkt dat zij het meest
te winnen hebben bij deze
nieuwe werkverhoudingen.
Die simpele handeling die je
na één keer onder de knie
hebt, hoeven ze nu echt maar
één keer te doen. Met andere
woorden, de junior medewerkers zijn net als de andere
collega’s die vanuit Nederland
bij de pilot waren betrokken, interessanter werk gaan
doen. Iedereen is een functie
omhoog gegaan. Dat is precies de reden dat iedereen bij
uitbesteden te winnen heeft.”
Working At ...
Grant Thornton
curriculum vitae
Marc Buijs is bezig met het
afronden van zijn post-master aan
Tilburg University.
Tijdens de afrondende fase van zijn
master Accountancy is hij in dienst
getreden bij Grant Thornton.
Inmiddels werkt Marc als gevorderd assistent accountant op de
vestiging in Rotterdam.
Agenda van Marc
Maandag
09.00 - 10.00 Pre-audit meeting cliënt W
>18.30
studie Casussen voorbereiden
Dinsdag
09.00 – 10.30 Overleg fiscalist inzake aangifte vennootschapsbelasting cliënt Z
11.00 – 17.00 Jaarrekeningcontrole bij cliënt X
Woensdag
08.15 – 17.00 Jaarrekeningcontrole bij cliënt X
>18.30
Squashen met vrienden
Donderdag
10.00 – 10.30 Conference call cliënt Blackburn
13.00 – 17.30 Afronden controle cliënt Y
Vrijdag
09.00 – 16.30 Tilburg University
>17.00
Vrijdagmiddagborrel met collega’s
Wat heb je gestudeerd en wat
heb je verder naast je studie
gedaan?
Gedurende mijn bachelor
bedrijfseconomie en master
accountancy was ik actief lid
van zowel een studie- als een
studentenvereniging (Asset |
Accounting & Finance / T.S.R.
Vidar). Tijdens mijn actieve
periode bij de verenigingen
heb ik in verscheidene commissies gezeten. Daarnaast
werkte ik ook parttime voor
een accountantskantoor.
Waarom ben je bij Grant
Thornton gaan werken?
Tijdens mijn studie was ik al
met meerdere kantoren in
aanraking gekomen, ook met
Grant Thornton. Belangrijke
pijlers voor het maken van
mijn keuze waren: de sfeer,
de doorgroeimogelijkheden
en het cliëntenpakket. Vooral
het laatste punt vond ik erg
belangrijk. Voor zowel mijn
bachelor- als masterscriptie
deed ik onderzoek naar familiebedrijven. Een cliëntenpakket met familiebedrijven past
bij mij. Daarnaast leek het
me interessant om te gaan
werken in de Randstad.
Wat is je huidige functie bij
Grant Thornton?
Mijn huidige functie is gevorderd assistent accountant. In
deze functie houd ik mij bezig
met het coördineren van het
werk van (junior) assistent accountants en begeleid ik hen
in de ontwikkeling in het vak.
Daarnaast voer ik de risicoanalyse uit voor de jaarrekeningcontrole van mijn klanten
en controleer ik de meer
complexe posten in de jaarrekening. Dit alles natuurlijk
“
Bij een middelgroot kantoor
als Grant Thornton heb je de
mogelijkheden zoals bij een
groot accountantskantoor,
maar de gewoonten van een
klein kantoor. en je kent
iedereen persoonlijk
“
onder goede begeleiding van
meer ervaren accountants.
Werk je vaak op kantoor, of
ben je vaker bij klanten?
Afhankelijk van de omvang
van de klant, werk je om de
paar weken op een andere
plaats bij een andere klant.
Daarnaast werk je voor verschillende soorten bedrijven,
zoals handel-, productie- en
dienstverlenende bedrijven.
Dit maakt het werk dynamisch en gevarieerd.
Hoe zou je de werkcultuur bij
Grant Thornton omschrijven?
De vestiging in Rotterdam
is een typisch Rotterdams
no-nonsense kantoor. De
communicatielijnen zijn kort
en de besluitvorming is snel.
Ook wordt de aandacht voor
vaktechnische en persoonlijke ontwikkeling erg belangrijk
gevonden. Hier in Rotterdam
wordt van alle medewerkers
een proactieve houding verwacht. Het type cliënten dat
wij bedienen verlangt deze
instelling ook van je. Het geven van je mening wordt zeer
op prijs gesteld. Daarnaast
komt samenwerken met
verschillende disciplines veelvuldig voor, bijvoorbeeld met
fiscalisten, bedrijfsjuridisch
adviseurs en consultants van
de afdeling specialist advisory
services. Veel werk uit het
internationale netwerk wordt
op de vestiging in Rotterdam
opgevangen. Hierdoor krijg
je ook de kans om internationaal samen te werken. Het
internationale netwerk van
Grant Thornton International
geeft je de kans om internationaal samen te werken met
collega’s in circa 100 landen.
Kan je iets meer vertellen
over de mogelijkheden voor
studenten/starters bij Grant
Thornton?
Voor masterstudenten zijn er
in februari tot juli op aanvraag werkstudentplekken
beschikbaar om kennis te
maken met werkzaamheden
in de accountancy en om tegelijkertijd je scriptie te schrijven. Ook treden elk jaar weer
afgestudeerde wo accountancy studenten in dienst.
Naast vier dagen werken zal
je op vrijdag je post-master
volgen. Voor starters organiseert Grant Thornton jaarlijks
een traineegame. Gedurende
de traineegame kruip je in
de huid van een accountant
van een fictieve cliënt. In een
levensechte case leerde ik
hoe je in de praktijk maximale
toegevoegde waarde kunt
creëren. Tegelijkertijd maakte
ik kennis met de vestigingen,
specialismen en het internationale netwerk.
Hoe zou je Grant Thornton
vergelijken met de Big Four
accountants?
Bij een middelgroot kantoor
als Grant Thornton heb je de
mogelijkheden zoals bij een
groot accountantskantoor,
maar de gewoonten van een
klein kantoor. Daarnaast ken
je iedereen op kantoor persoonlijk. Het is vooral belangrijk om aan de slag te gaan bij
een kantoor, waarmee je een
‘klik’ hebt. Je kunt jezelf gerust
een keer vrijblijvend aanmelden voor een gesprek of een
meeloopdag.
Wat vind je het leukste aan
het werk bij Grant Thornton?
De mogelijkheid voor het
volgen van een post-master
is dé ideale overgang naar
het bedrijfsleven. Daarnaast
vind ik het interessant om te
werken in een organisatie die
een groei doormaakt. De organisatie is altijd in beweging!
Wat mij verder aanspreekt in
Grant Thornton is dat de mogelijkheid en de ruimte wordt
geboden om door te kunnen
groeien. Om samenwerking
tussen de landen te bevorderen, wordt uitwisseling van
werknemers gestimuleerd.
Dit spreekt mij bijzonder aan
omdat ik mezelf graag wil blijven ontwikkelen. Daarnaast
word je breder opgeleid.
Wat wil je bereikt hebben over
een aantal jaar?
Voorlopig zit ik in ieder geval
prima op mijn plek bij Grant
Thornton. Aan carrièreplanning op lange termijn doe ik
niet, maar ik probeer realistische en haalbare doelen
te stellen op middellange
termijn. Over twee á drie jaar
hoop ik allereerst nog altijd
met hetzelfde enthousiasme
en betrokkenheid bezig te
zijn voor klanten. Daarnaast
zou ik graag controleteams
zelfstandig willen aansturen.
Verder zou ik misschien in de
toekomst nog wel een aantal
jaar in het buitenland willen
werken. Het werken in een
totaal andere cultuur en omgeving lijkt me een enorme
uitdaging.
Heb je nog advies voor de studenten van Tilburg University?
Studenten kan ik alleen maar
aanraden om lid te worden
van een studie-, sport- en/of
studentenvereniging. Je ontmoet veel nieuwe mensen én
het is bovendien erg gezellig!
Daarnaast doe je ervaring
op met competenties zoals
samenwerken, communiceren, plannen en organiseren.
In de collegebanken kom je
met deze competenties deels
in aanraking, maar ze zijn erg
waardevol in het bedrijfsleven.
Ook werkte ik tijdens mijn
studie parttime voor een accountantskantoor. De combinatie theorie en praktijk zorgt
ervoor dat je verbanden kunt
leggen, waardoor de theorie
meer zal gaan leven.
Verder zou ik studenten als
tip mee willen geven om aan
bedrijfsbezoeken mee te
doen en om een afstudeerstage te lopen bij een bedrijf
waar je graag zou willen
werken. Hierdoor maak je in
een vroeg stadium al kennis
met het bedrijf, de mensen
en de cultuur, voordat je écht
aan de slag gaat!
INTERVIEW
Roel van de Ven is master student
Accounting
Jack Leenaars
we asked the founder of DelhiByCycle about his background,
his motivation to start-up a company in such a different country and his experiences with the daily life of Delhi
38
Interview
During our studytour we
decided to experience India
in a different way. The best
way of experiencing the hectic, busy and colorful daily
life of India is riding a bike.
On Monday October 22nd
we joined a cycling tour of
DelhiByCyle. They offer five
fascinating routes, covering the most interesting,
intense, historical and beautiful areas of Old and New
Delhi. Our local tour guide
and his assistant showed us
around
Can you give a short introduction about yourself and
DelhiByCycle?
As a former South Asia correspondent (De Telegraaf)
I arrived in New Delhi in
2003. For 6 years I travelled
through the Indian subcontinent for my newspaper,
radio and other Dutch media,
a boys dream! Before India
I used to live in Amsterdam
where I studied International
Communication at the UvA.
DelhiByCycle is a creation
based on my love of putting
my experiences in some sort
of story. Before I was writing
articles, with DBC it became
a bicycle tour in which I am
telling the story of the streets
of Delhi.
When did you fell in love with
New Delhi?
Love is big word for a lady
which is so difficult to
handle….It’s more an addiction. Delhi is a never boring
city, always on the move,
unlimited inspiring, colorful,
historically an inspiration for
the mind. Not a single day is
the same. But it all started
from the moment I arrived in
November 2003.
You started in India as a reporter for a Dutch newspaper,
when did you decide to stay in
India and quit your job?
After 5 years of journalism
I started to repeat myself.
Same bomb blasts, again
elections. The ultimate
journalist hunger was fading
“
Don’t expect easy money, doing business in India requires
lots of determination,
unique skills, creativity and
patience; everything is possible, The sky is the limit and
that’s an amazing feeling
away. I felt I had to re-invent
myself to keep rolling in India.
In my opinion independent
minds shouldn’t work within
a company, so I decided to
start up my own company
was
How did you get the idea of
organizing cycling tours in
Delhi?
Inspired by a bicycle tour I did
in Bangkok combined with
the cycling experience for
some years in the streets of
Delhi was the ideal cocktail
for this idea
When did you start the company, and is it still growing in
terms of guests? What are
your growth expectations?
Officially from January 2010
when I got my business visa
(before I was in India on a
journalist visa). It’s growing
fast, 100% per year. This year
I’m reaching a number of tour
participants which won’t be
exceeded easily next year.
I expect the business to be
stable unless I increase the
number of bicycles seriously.
Is it hard to start a business
in India? In what way is it
different, compared to the
Netherlands?
India is a sharp contrast in
every sense to The Netherlands. If you can handle this
challenge it’s not difficult
to start a business in India.
It means you have to stop
thinking from the Dutch
perspective in Indian situations without losing your
Dutch mentality. Sounds like
a contradiction, but it means
you should use both ways
of thinking. Flexibility and
accepting every situation has
different solutions combined
with quality and a long term,
pro active approach.
During the company visits
of our Studytour, they told
us that it is easy to start a
company in India and the
government is promoting
this. Do you agree with this
statement?
Every foreigner starting
a business is a self made
business man/woman. The
best support to get from the
government is to get a long
term business visa which is
not the case.
Would you advise Dutch individual entrepreneurs to start
a company in India?
As always India is an amazing country to work/life in,
business wise, mind wise and
a true life experience. Don’t
expect easy money, doing
business in India requires
lots of determination, unique
skills, creativity, and patience,
but everything is possible.
The sky is the limit and that’s
an amazing feeling!
How did Indian people react
on your idea of organizing
cycling tours in Delhi?
The love it, lots of respect
for the unique experience.
Main reaction:”Why is it that
a Dutchman on a cycle is
showing us our own city and
history?”
Is it hard to find skilled employees for your business?
Good companies, inspiring
company cultures, unique
products and good salaries
always attract the right kind
of people. We have four office
people and 17 guides and co
guides (part time).
What kind of attitude do your
personnel have towards you?
I’m a very approachable
director, I believe in responsibility and respect to all,
no matter what position in
society. That’s not common in
India. It pays off in a way that
I have a strong trust relation
with my employees. I’m the
boss and key decision maker,
but we all work together to
make this company grow in
an inspiring and respectful
way.
What are your future plans
with this company?
Maintain the current tour and
team quality and expand in
unexpected directions, preferably linked to the current
activities.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a hot topic at the
moment. Do you have a CSR
strategy in your company? In
what way do you support the
local economy?
CSR should be inclined in the
soul of the company. I’m not
interested in some activity to
show the world that we also
care about other people or
the environment. DelhiByCycle is a green company, showing what Delhi life is about.
That’s the main value of DBC.
Apart from this I have given
every tour some theme to
highlight / create awareness
about an important issue
in the city. Like pollution of
Yamuna river (Yamuna tour),
declining state of heritage
buildings in Delhi (Haveli
tour), support of a ngo (Hope
Project on the Nizamuddin
tour - this ngo is not only
included in the tour itself to
show the amazing work they
do, Rs.75 per participant is
also donated to the Hope
Project (5% of our income).
We also trained 6 co guides
from Salaam Balaak Trust,
a shelter for former streets
boys, to work in our team.
“
Since a few years DelhiByCycle is included in the Lonely
Planet. What kind of impact
did this have on your business
process?
Any guide book or online
forum like TripAdvisor is good
for business in terms of increasing numbers. Especially
the Lonely Planet. Also when
it comes to status of the company is means a lot, which
pays off in different ways like
more easy to access business
partners.
What are the requirements
to be included in the Lonely
Planet?
Just focus on your core business and make the best out
of it. No compromise when it
comes to quality. And if you
do things out of a passion
recognition comes automatically. Be convinced about
what you do.
We saw that DelhiByCycle
has a partnership with KLM.
What are the benefits for KLM,
because KLM is an airline with
its roots in the Netherlands.
KLM is using DBC as a promotion tool, it’s an unique
association to be tied up
with a cycling tour company
in Delhi. Their CSR message
(‘Take care of tomorrow –
today’ --- which is shown
on our baskets). Mainly to
target the Indian market as
KLM India is our partner. Of
course the Dutch connection
also counts. It’s a good color
combination.. KLM blue and
DBC orange.
Life on JNU
Campus
40
Opinion
a REPORT
During the Studytour the group got the opportunity to visit Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi
and meet both Indian students and professors. A report by Anchal Arora, one of the students
by Anchal Arora
Anchal Arora Is a phd
student Economics
at Jawaharlal Nehru
University in New Delhi
It has been six years that I,
Anchal Arora, am a part of
this university. I came here in
2006 after clearing the JNU
entrance exam for pursuing
a Masters in Economics. I am
currently pursuing a PhD in
Economics and it seems that
it was just few months back
that I came here. Believe me
I did not realize how time
passed away. JNU has helped
me in framing my overall personality and it really became
like a home away from home.
I am very optimistic about
my future and see myself to
be holding a good academic
position after completing my
PhD.
Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) is considered to be one
of the top most centralized
universities in India. It is easily
accessible from anywhere in
the world. Set up in 1970,
the university is an example
of the red new brick universities built in the mid-twentieth
century. Located in the
southern part of New Delhi
and spread over an area
of about 1.000 acres, the
campus occupies some of the
northernmost reaches of the
Aravalli Hills. The campus is
lush green maintaining large
patches of scrub and forestland – the JNU ridge, home to
over 200 species of birds and
wildlife such as jackals, peacocks and snakes. There are
10 different schools, which
provide various courses in
Masters, M.Phils. and PhDs.
Schools like Social Sciences,
International Studies provide
most sought after courses in
which many students appear
through entrance exam and
Viva Voice and finally get
admitted. Currently, JNU has
over 7.000 students pursuing
full time courses in different
disciplines.
JNU is considered to be one
of the least expensive universities in India, which attracts
talented students who can afford its education at nominal
price. Students across different strata’s of society without
any discrimination flourish
here and JNU provides one
with a free mind and free will
to think and the opportunity
to take one’s own decisions.
Fascinating thing is that it
provides residence facilities
to almost all the residents
wherein there are 17 hostels
out of which one is for married students. These hostels
are like home away from
home as it offers healthy and
hygienic food, reading room
services, recreation and gym
facilities. Indeed it provides
holistic development for students by organizing cultural
night, screening documentary movies and hostel night,
which are the life line of these
hostels. JNU campus has
numerous small food joints
popularly known as ‘dhabas’
which serve very delicious
food at a very subsidized
rate that can be afforded by
anyone. Interestingly these
‘Dhabas’ are popular spots
for informal debates, healthy
discussions on contemporary
issues, street plays wherein
students assimilate the scenario world is going through.
Apart from education JNU encourages its students to participate in various extracurricular activities organized by
the sports stadium from time
to time. Cricket, badminton,
tennis, volleyball, table tennis,
weight lifting and athletics
are organized throughout
the year. It has an open-air
theater and several auditoriums where students perform
various cultural activities.
The university has 9 cultural
clubs: the Drama Club, Music
Club, Film Club, Fine Arts
Club, Photography Club,
Literary Club, Debating Club,
UNESCO Club and Nature &
Wildlife Club. The programs
are organized by the convener and the members of
the respective club. Other
cultural groups are: Bahroop
“
In a nutshell we can say that
Jawaharlal Nehru University
provides platform for its
students and faculties for
their holistic development,
irrespective of any differentiation
“
Arts Group, Indian Peoples’
Theatre Association, Orissa
Sanskrutika Parishad, Wings
Cultural Society, and many
more.
JNU makes its students aware
of the political happenings
not only in the country but
also across the world so that
they can take their own decisions with free will and elect
their representatives. Thus
JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru
University Students Union)
is supported by a strong students union, which works in
favor of students, addresses
their problems and implements various programs
for them. It works forward
for gender empowerment,
equity and safeguards the
rights of women. It preserves
and provides healthy political atmosphere and make
students involved in debates,
which are equally participated
by faculty and guests, journalists, etcetera. It also has an
excellent intelligence in the
form of faculty, which helps
its students to relate their
studies to the real world.
They interact both formally
and informally with students
and provide ample space for
growth. The faculty writes for
various books, newspapers,
magazines, and both international and national journals.
It also supports its students
by providing travel grants to
participate in various international conferences. Thus
JNU is an amalgamation of
different cultures under one
umbrella.
We have International
Students Association (ISA),
which is an official body of
JNU. In a view to promote
friendly relations and cultural exchange the ISA has
an elected constitution in
which it has a president, vicepresident, general secretary
and joint secretary. There
are more than 200 foreign
students present, who hail
from different parts of the
world like USA, Germany, U.K,
Korea, Japan, Thailand, Nepal,
African Nations, Iran, Iraq and
Afghanistan. ISA facilitates the
new comers for instance for
admission, hostel accommodation, visa updates. Foreign
students celebrate food festival every year in which many
mouth-watering cuisines are
served. They perform various
cultural activities that provide
a picture of their tradition,
customs and in turn make us
enrich about their nations.
In a nutshell we can say that
JNU provides platform for
its students and faculties for
their holistic development,
irrespective of any differentiation, campus culture and
students’ activism, hostel life,
research facilities, scholarships for bright students.
Faculty-student friendly relationship makes our university
different from others.
COLUMN
By conducting slum tours, Reality Tours and Travel aims to raise social awareness and to break down the negative attitude
many people have towards slums. Dharavi is one of Asia’s biggest slums and destination of their signature slum tour
by adina goerke
Reality Tours and Travel is
an ethical tour operator in
Mumbai that conducts slum
tours, dedicated to raise social awareness and to break
down the negative attitude
many people have towards
slums and especially their
residents. The organization
puts the money they collect
with the tours right back
into the slum community of
Dharavi - one of Asia’s biggest
slums and destination of their
signature slum tour.
The aim of these tours is to
show the realities of living
in the city of Mumbai, which
customers normally would
not find in their travel guide
books. It is much more than
just sightseeing as the tours
also reveal the social issues
caused by the strong discrepancy between the poor and
rich parts of society.
But why Dharavi? What is so
special about this slum and
why would people pay for a
tour to this area? First of all,
the density of Dharavi is staggering - one million people
live on 1,75 square kilometers
of land (approximately half
the size of New York’s central
park). This makes the density
“
If you meet your neighbor
everyday at the public toilet
or while collecting water
from a public tap it brings
you together and connects
you as a community for a
life time
Adina Goerke is Head Marketing of Reality Tours and Travel
about 570.000 per square
km, which is 20 times denser
than the whole city of Mumbai, and Mumbai is one of the
most densely populated cities
in the world.
“
According to a national survey carried out in 2011, more
than 70% of the population of
Mumbai lives in slums. While
being in Mumbai, slums are
everywhere – in front of your
Hotel, next to your residence,
and behind your office building. If you look from one of
the hundred high-rise buildings all over Mumbai you will
always spot some slums.
slum tourism
How slum tourism can make a difference – A visit to Dharavi in Mumbai,
one of Asia’s biggest slums
43
Column
Mumbai’s slums are internationally famous, in part thanks to the 2008
movie Slumdog Millionaire. After the movie was released people wanted
to see how its residents really live, where they work and how their living
conditions are. Furthermore, the local slums got famous due to the book
‘Shantaram’ from the Australian author Gregory David Roberts, who allegedly lived in Mumbai’s slums for a while to hide from the authorities.
In his book, he describes the slum very detailed; especially the sense of
community and the unique spirit that accompanies with living in the slum.
However, Dharavi is not “just a slum”. With 80% of Mumbai’s commercial
waste getting recycled in this area it has become an area which Mumbai
finds hard to do without. There are 10.000 different businesses, such as
leather, recycling, garment, embroidery, baking etc. These businesses
produce goods with a value of Rs. 30 billion (410 million euros) annually
and they are everywhere. Behind every wall, people are working hard. For
example, men are block printing on fabrics, and women selecting valuable
plastic out of piles of waste or making papadoms (a famous Indian side
dish). Furthermore, you will find Muslims making shrines for Hindus and
Hindus cooking Chai for Muslims. It is all about making money for a living
– and for the children to live a better future.
In addition, there is something else that makes the residents of Dharavi
and other slums in Mumbai special, which is the strong sense of community and pride. In Dharavi you have people with materially very little
who live in poor conditions – e.g. open drains, poor toilets, and small
homes – and work many hours. However, these people meet up for these
challenges and are getting on with their lives. People are chatting, smiling
and enjoying each other’s company. If you meet your neighbor everyday
at the public toilet or while collecting water from a public tap, or if you
have to face the issue of an overflowing open drain together, it brings you
together and connects you as a community for a life time. Nobody is ever
alone.
In sum, this sense of community and spirit is what Reality Tours and
Travel wants to show on their tours. Visitors see that people in Dharavi do
not give up and that it is not a dangerous place like many people would
suspect it to be. It is a dynamic place with many innovative and effective
solutions for financial issues and poor living conditions. However, there
are also social, environmental and health issues and they do not paint
the picture brighter than it is. The poor working conditions, the shortage of clean toilets, the open drainage – all of it causes serious diseases,
especially for the kids in Dharavi. Furthermore, there is lack of education
when it comes to hygiene and waste management as well as nutrition and
health. Also the municipal school system does not provide great conditions for a successful education – you can have up to 70 students in a
class.
MESSAGE
FROM ABROAD
At the moment I step outside of Indira Gandhi airport
in Delhi, the heat and the
humidity are overwhelming.
It might be ‘only’ 35 degrees
Celsius, but the humidity and
the dust are knocking me
down. Two Polish people,
who appear to work with
AIESEC as well, are waiting
for the same taxi. And that is
when I had my first OMGmoment: Indian traffic.
Everything drives everywhere.
Three traffic lanes mean at
least 4 vehicles - anything like
bikes bikeriksjas, autoriksjas, taxis, cars etc. - that are
driving next to each other. In
order to pass one another,
people use their horns
instead of their flashing lights,
as what I was used to. Now,
I also need to mention that
Indians are one of the most
patient people I have met…
except while being in traffic.
For example, autoriksjas extended scooters that can
carry three passengers - use
every tiny little gap between
cars to squeeze through,
resulting in many almostaccidents.
The purpose of my visit is
doing voluntary work with
underprivileged (Muslim) kids
from the slums. I would have
sessions with the children to
develop their level of English,
civic sense, understanding
of environmental issues
and skills like leadership
and teamwork. There was
a session in a public school
for one day, and we had one
day (plus the weekend) off.
Typically, it turned out that
we had to design the AIESEC
sessions ourselves. Besides,
there were not as many sessions as intended (due to rain
or celebration days), which I
regretted. Altogether, it was
great. We were delivering
smiles, and planted seeds of
hopes and dreams.
As I mentioned, the weekends were free which meant
there were enough opportunities to travel through
India.I visited amazing and
beautiful places. For example,
the biggest Hindi and Sikkim
temples in the world, the residence of the Tibetan government, the mountains with the
purest ‘grass’ in India and the
most wonderful of all: a camel
safari in the desert, where I
spent the night under the shining desert-stars. It doesn’t
happen much, but then India
finally becomes silent.
However, most of all, I
enjoyed the people in India.
They are kind and they are
everywhere. Ranging from
the poor kids playing in the
mud in front of a Krishna
Temple nearby, to the old
guard with the huge moustache leading us around in the
desolated ruins of Firoz Sha
Kotla. Usually, people do their
utter best to help you, even if
this is not the most efficient
way.
Obviously, some people try
to take advantage of you.
Especially at railway stations
they swarm around you like
bees on honey and try to give
you ‘value packages’ of taxi
rides for a whole day, - hugely
overpriced - . For example,
when we were in Agra - the
city where the famous Taj
Mahal is located - an autodriver took us for a cheap ride
and while driving showed us
his ‘book’. It was a notebook
full of positive stories from
people all over the world,
who were willing to pay a
price at least three times as
much as ‘market price’. Of
course, this book was a fake,
but the guy brought it in a
very funny way.
jasper wierda went to India
via AIESEC to do a voluntary
project with underprivileged
Indian children and interns
from all over the world.
He shares his experience
with us
“
I would have sessions with
the children to develop
their level of English, civic
sense, understanding of
environmental issues and
skills like leadership and
teamwork
“
In the beginning of my stay, I
did not like India at all. Delhi
was crowded, noisy, dirty and
restless. India was shocking,
and I felt lost. Luckily, the
interns took great care of
me, and as soon as I started
traveling around, I slightly
fell in love with India. Back
in Delhi, I more and more
started to appreciate the
country. Also, a lot of Indian
colleagues (from AIESEC) took
us to all the non-touristic
places in the city. It was a
great experience, and the
moment I had to leave was
difficult. I had a final dinner at
someone’s home. There, his
mom had cooked some great
traditional dishes, and some
others were waiting to party
hard. It was sad and almost
heart breaking to leave India.
However, I can look back on
a life changing, mind blowing,
and beliefs expanding experience thanks to AISEC Delhi
University!
I will go back there.
Someday…
We frequently interview students
at the campus of Tilburg University
about their opinion on trending
topics
campus life
We asked four students about their opinion on india. Does it have the potential to become the next global superpower?
name
M. de Jong
name
Dobrin Grancharov
name
Ron Zhen
name
Frank van der Linden
age
22
age
25
age
23
age
22
field of study
Kunst, publiek en samenleving
(Pre-Master)
field of study
Marketing
field of study
Economics
field of study
Business Economics
One of the first things that
comes to mind when I think
of India are the cars that the
Indian people use to navigate
their way through traffic; the
tuk-tuk. It is the public transportation vehicle of choice
and it is quite hilarious for foreign people. My main reason
to go to India would be the
large cultural differences with
the Netherlands. It would be
a complete culture shock.
I have already been to Sri
Lanka a few times, so I have
yet to see for myself if India
can beat this. India has many
things to offer, but in terms of
power I think that China will
be the new superpower and
not India.
I only know India from
movies like Slumdog Millionaire, which was a really great
movie made in Bollywood.
If I would go to India then it
would mainly be for business.
Indian people have a different
style of doing business than
we are used to in Europe,
so this might be challenging.
The country is still growing
rapidly, in contrast to Europa
and the United States, and
there are a lot of opportunities for ambitious businessman. If I am going to work in
India, then I am not looking
forward to the hot environment. India is really crowded
and it might be difficult to
adapt to this new way of life.
While India has some serious
potential I believe China is
already ahead in terms of development. African countries
will also rise to power and
India will have to compete
with them too.
The few things I know about
India are the really typical
ones like the holy cow and all
the religion related specifics,
like the temples. I also really
enjoy the food, but you have
to make sure it is not too
spicy. India is a great country
and I would really like to visit
it, especially for the sightseeing of all the wonderful
nature and buildings like the
Taj Mahal. The weather is one
of the only things that will
stop me from going there. It
can be really hot and there
are quite a lot of diseases,
so you have to be careful. It
will probably come to a race
between China and India who
will be the next supremacy in
the world. I do believe that
China will win that race, because they are already more
globally active and I am not
entirely sure if India has the
skill to keep up with China.
Recently, India has been
negatively published in the
news. A woman was raped
in a bus and died some
days afterwards, causing
a massive spur of injustice
in the country. This terrible
incident shows us that the
rights of women are still a
matter of concern in India.
Pondering more about India,
I can mostly think of the bad
sanitary conditions and the
wooden cars with a horse. I
would like to go to India for
numerous reasons; I would
love to see the Taj Mahal see
how people live in India compared to Europe. What stops
me to go to India is the fact I
like luxury. India is dirty and
the food can be dangerous
for us as Dutchmen. I think
India is not going to be the
next superpower, at least not
for another 100 years, since
they lag other countries. But
who knows, India might just
surprise me!
OVERVIEW
past ACTIVITIES
November 29, December 13,
2012
Traders Trophy
On November 29, a preround of the Traders Trophy
took place at Tilburg University. Amongst others, two
active members of Asset |
Accounting & Finance qualified for the national final on
December 13. This national
final was won by a student
from Groningen.
December 6, 2012
Business Café Fagro
Over twenty students attended the Business Café of
Fagro. The evening started
with a presentation providing
students the opportunity to
ask everything about Fagro
they wanted to know. Afterwards, there was a drink.
December 7, 2012
Activum Alumni Dinner
The Activum Alumni Dinner
was an evening full of food,
drinks and old memories.
Over forty Activum Alumni
were present during this evening that took place at Café
Anvers in Tilburg. You can
find the pictures that were
made during the evening at
our Activum Alumni Facebook.
February 7, 2013
iFinance
During the afternoon, Nout
Wellink and other renowned
speakers discussed the past,
present and future of the
Euro and Europe. Questions
as whether the Netherlands
should stay in the Euro-zone
were answered. The interesting afternoon was led by Ivo
Arnold and took place in DZ1
at Tilburg University. Even RTL
Z nieuws, nu.nl and Brabants
Dagblad were interested in
this year’s edition of iFinance.
Become active
We are always looking for
new enthusiastic active members to strengthen one of our
committees. Interested? Do
not hesitate to email us for
more information at Info@
Asset-AccountingFinance.nl.
You can also go to our website or drop by at our room
(E106).
upcoming ACTIVITIES
February 20, 2013
will be the winner of this
year’s trophy?
March 4, 2013
April 8-18, 2013
Business Cafe Rebel
Do you want to know more
about Rebel and get in touch
with their employees? Come
to the business cafe during this evening! Rebel is
a management consulting
company that operates in 93
different countries and many
branches. February 5, 8, 15 and 21, 2013
March 14, 2013
Multinational Battle
As of this year, the Multinational Battle takes place by
means of in-house days. KPN,
Ahold, Shell and Unilever will
be visited by students from
all over the Netherlands.
Afterwards, the final will take
place on March 14 and March
15 for which each company
is allowed to choose five
finalists.
February 25-26, 2013
Consultancy Experience
The Consultancy Experience
is a two-day event where
students are offered the
opportunity to get in touch
with multiple consulting
companies. McKinsey already
agreed to participate in this
year’s edition. During the
night, students will stay in a
luxurious hotel in Amsterdam.
February 28, 2013
B.E.S.T.
Benefit Event Students
Tilburg is an evening organized for a charity by T.F.V.
“De Smeetskring”, Magister
JFT, and Asset | Accounting
& Finance. The charity of this
year is Villa Pardoes. This
year’s edition of B.E.S.T. has a
theme, namely ‘B.E.S.T. of the
90’s’. DJ Jean and the Party
Excursion Day
The Excursion Day is meant
for Bachelor students Business Economics who still
have to decide on which Master direction to choose. This
event is organized in cooperation with Asset | Marketing, Asset | SBIT and Asset |
Strategy & Logistics. During
this day, Bachelor students
will visit well-known companies that give a good impression of all Master directions
Tilburg University has to offer.
March 27, 2013
AccountantsDay
The AccountantsDay is an
activity for medium-sized
Accounting firms. In the
morning there will be a presentation about the possibilities that these firms have to
offer. After that, there will be
a speed date session. In this
way students will learn more
about the companies. In the
afternoon, there will be an
informal activity.
March 28, 2013
Bowling Tournament
The Bowling Tournament is
organized for Activum Alumni
and Active Members of Asset | Accounting & Finance.
Last year’s winner was active
member Maarten Cox. Who
Economics Business
weeks Tilburg
Together with Faculty Association Asset, Asset | Accounting & Finance will organize
the Economic Business weeks
Tilburg. During these weeks,
students can get in contact
with companies in several
ways: via trainings, company
presentations, individual
talks, dinners, lunches and
cases. The Economic Business weeks Tilburg is the largest career event in Southern
Netherlands.
49
Overview of Activities
Animals will be present during the evening!
Business Cafe Duisenberg
School of Finance
Duisenberg School of Finance
is a private institute offering
five different Master programs, both full-time and
part-time. Do you consider
applying for a study at
Duisenberg School of Finance
or do you want to know
more? Then make sure that
you attend this Business
Cafe.
May 2, 2013
Investment Night
For the very first time, Asset
| Accounting & Finance will
organize an Investment Night.
This evening will be completely devoted to investing. Make
sure you do not miss this
evening if you even have the
slightest interest in investing.
May 3, 2013
FAN Soccer Tournament
The FAN Soccer Tournament
is organized for the first
time by Asset | Accounting
& Finance. The event will be
held for all financial study
associations in the Netherlands allied to the ‘Financiële
Associatie Nederland’.
During the year
Are you looking for an internship or traineeship? Have
a look at our career portal!
We offer many interesting
internships, traineeships
and starters functions for
both accounting and finance
students. If you are interested, send us an email or
visit www.Asset-AccountingFinance.nl/Career.
studytour
Tom Janssen MSc. is a master student
Finance at Tilburg University
mumbai & new delhi
On October 12 2012, a group of 28 students started their
amazing journey to India. After some slight delays and a
luggage problem, we arrived in Mumbai for the start of an
incredible and unforgettable two week adventure
Saturday October 13
After refreshing, it was time
to have our first experiences
in India. During a walking
tour along some sightseeing
hotspots, we had to defy the
chaotic roads of Mumbai.
Among others, we saw the
Mumbai High Court, University of Mumbai and the Oval
Maidan, where a lot of locals
are playing games of cricket.
The highlight of the tour was
the Gateway of India, a monumental arch that overlooks
the Arabian Sea in the harbor
of Mumbai. In the evening
we enjoyed a typical Indian
dinner in the Indian Summer
restaurant. Of course, this
dinner could not be without a
lot of herbs and spices. While
the majority of the participants decided to get some
rest after a tiring day, a small
group decided to explore
the nightlife of Mumbai and
visited the Dome rooftop bar
and the Bluefrog club.
Sunday October 14
On Sunday we had to get up
for an early breakfast consisting of toast and omelet. After
the breakfast, we went to
the harbor to catch the boat
to Elephanta Island. On this
island is a network of sculptured caves which contain
rock cut sculptures, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
The island is full of aggressive
monkeys that attack tourists
for their food and drinks. In
the afternoon we visited the
football academy of the Indian Football Association. After
the philosophy of supporting
young talent was explained
to us, it was time to get on
the pitch and play a friendly
match against the national
under-15 squad of India. To
our great surprise, a crowd of
a couple of hundred people
was present on stands, and
the match was led by an offical referee and linesmen. We
will not go into details, but it
was a very special experience
in the tropical heat. Luckely
the officals of the association
allowed us a refreshing dive
into the swimming pool of the
training centre to cool off.
Monday October 15
As Monday marks the start of
a new working week, our first
company visits were scheduled for this day. UnfortuFACES INTERNATIONAL | Y. 14 | P. 52
nately, four people were not
used to to the Indian food
and had to stay in the hotel.
First, Bloomberg gave us a
tour in their wonderful office
on the 16th floor, including
a company presentation and
the possibility to ask questions. After that, we continued to the Bombay Stock
Exchange where we visited
the old trading floor which is
used for IPO’s and conferences nowadays. The program
continued with a Q&A session with the COO and CEO
of the BSE Brokers’ Forum.
They told us everything
about the Indian economy
and trading in India. In the
afternoon there was time for
sightseeing again, and we attended the Christian neighborhood Kotachiwadi, the
Mahalaxmi Temple and the
Haji Ali Mosque. The day was
wrapped up by a small group
of participants with some
drinks in Club Aer, the rooftop bar of the Four Seasons
Hotel with a spectacular view
over the city of Mumbai.
Tuesday October 16
One of the most impressing
events of the Studytour was
scheduled this day, a visit to
the Dharavi slum organized
by Reality Tours and Travel.
This slum is divided into two
parts: one residential area
and one industrial area.
Dharavi is characterized by
a vivid industry of plastic
recycling, pottery and leather.
Reality Tours and Travel has
set up a community centre in
the slum to educate children
in the English proficiency. At
this community centre, we
got the chance to talk with
these very enthousiastic children, play games with them
and see some of the learning
methods that are used. After
everyone had taken a fresh
shower, we visited a typical
Hindu festival where several
participants received a red
dot on their forehead. Finally,
the day was ended with a few
drinks in Leopold Cafe.
Wednesday October 17
On Wednesday we had the
chance to experience the
banking business in India. We
were invited to visit the ING
Vysya Bank. First, we visited
one of the best branch offices
in Mumbai on Cuffe Parade.
This office is not only used for
banking purposes, but also
holds an art gallery. After exploring a local office we were
taken to the Bandra Kurla
Complex, a major commercial
complex where the corporate office of ING Vysy Bank
is located. Here, Dutchman
Marc van der Hooft – Head
of large corporate clients
– told us everything about
the Indian banking industry.
In the evening we watched
the Bollywood movie OMG,
with music, dance and a lot
of incomprehensible Hindi
dialogues. Although we could
not understand a single word
said in the movie, it was a
very nice experience.
Thursday October 18
Today we visited another
multinational of Dutch origin
in Mumbai. However, this
time not specificely a firm
from the financial sector,
but the decorative paints
plant of AkzoNobel. Here, the
complete process of mingling, mixing, testing, filling
and shipping of paints was
explained to us. Because of a
limited amount of space available, one group of participants arrived in the morning,
while the second group went
for a visit in the afternoon.
The remainder of the day was
reserved for spare time, to
enjoy the wonderful sights
of Mumbai for the last time.
In the evening, a jointly night
out was planned. We had a
very nice evening and night
at the Wink Lounge Bar. This
evening concluded a wonderful first week in India.
Friday October 19
We had to get up early to
catch the flight from Mumbai
to New Delhi. This time, all
our suitcases were handled
well and we arrived at the
Smyle Inn Hostel without any
problems. Everybody was
allowed some free time to
fresh up and get some rest
before we had dinner on
top of the roof of the hostel.
In the evening we used the
metro system of New Delhi,
to get to the Red Fort. We
were literally crammed into
the metro, and the streets
were charcaterized by a chaos of motors, cars, rikshaws,
animals and pedestrians. At
the Red Fort, which had been
the centre of wealthy India
for centuries, we enjoyed a
light show in which the rich
history of India and the fort in
particular were exhibited.
Saturday October 20
The Saturday started with
a city walk organized by the
Salaam Balak Trust, a shelter
home for street children in
New Delhi. This guided tour,
led by former street children,
showed us the area around
the Delhi Railway Station.
Furthermore, we where
informed about everything
the organization does to
provide opportunities for
the streetchildren. Especially
meeting the little children
was a really fun experience,
and it is very impressive to
see what an organization
as Salaam Balak Trust can
achieve for these children.
In the afternoon, the Akshardham Temple complex
was paid a visit. This complex,
built by nearly 1,000 artisans
and constructed out of 6,000
tonnes of pink sandstone was
a stunning sight, even though
it is only five years old.
Subsequently, it was time for
a legendary night out in the
Hype Club. After a fantastic
night and some drinks, we
got the opportunity to drive
a rikshaw home ourselves
by a very friendly Indian taxi
driver.
Sunday October 21
Today was a day that included many interesting sightseeing activities. In the morning
we were supposed to visit the
National Gandhi Memorial,
but mistakenly ended up in
the National Musuem of India
instead. After spending an
hour in the wrong museum
we moved on to Nizamuddin,
a small Islamic neighbourhood with a lot of vendors.
In addition to a large amount
of tombs and mausoleums,
this neighbourhood has a
lot of poverty, crime and
drug abuse as well. Next
stop was Humayun’s Tomb,
the first substantial example
of Mughal architecture in
India. After a long period of
sightseeing, hunger got to us
and the local McDonald’s was
attacked by all participants.
All fed up and full of energy,
we continued our way to the
Lotus Temple. This worship house for people of all
religions, is named after its
flowerlike shape. After a long
and tiring day everybody got
to bed early, with an early rise
next morning in sight.
Monday October 22
We had to get up early to
expierence some Dutch glory
in India. A former Dutch journalist has set up the company
DelhiByCycle to organize
bike tours through various
parts of New Delhi. In small
groups we followed different
tours and had a typical Indian
breakfast. After a quick shower and change of clothes,we
visited one of the leading
Indian accounting firms in
Delhi, Manoj Pahwa & Associates – Chartered Accountants. They gave us some
background information
about the Indian accounting
business. Although the office of the company was not
completely what we are used
to in the Netherlands, it was
interesting to see how such
a company operates in India.
Back at the hotel, there was
no program in the afternoon
and evening. Therefore, most
of the participants spend
their time to buy souvenirs
the relatives and friends at
home were longing for.
Tuesday October 23
After a good night of sleep,
we paid a visit to the Dutch
Embassy that morning. Here,
Tom Maasen told us everything about the political relationships between India and
The Netherlands. After hearing about the policy of the
diplomats in India, Gerdalies
van Diggelen informed us
about the trade relations
and her role as excecutive
director of the Netherlands
Foreign Investment Agency
(NFIA). Next stop was the
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
where we had a lunch and
got a presentation. After talking to local students about
the education system and
student life it was again time
to leave. This time we went to
the Qutub Minar. This Islamic
minaret is the tallest minaret
of India and represents several victories of the Muslims
in India. The dinner and party
in Cafe 27 that evening was
marvelous. We said goodbye
“
the sky cleared up and we
enjoyed the Taj Mahal in its
full glory. This breathtaking view became even more
spectacular after we met
Dutch television star Patty
Brard
“
to New Delhi with free shots,
Dutch music and even a
polonaise.
Wednesday October 24
The time to leave New Delhi
had finally arrived, and we
departed to the railway station for our last stop, Agra
and the wonderful Taj Mahal.
After everyone had packed
their bags, we took the train
and a couple of hours later
we arrived at Hotel Priya. In
the evening, we catched a
first glimps of the Taj Mahal
during our dinner on a rooftopbar.
Thursday October 25
The moment we all had been
waiting for finally arrived. The
opportunity to see one of the
seven world wonders ourselves. After a very early wake
up time, we went to Mehtab
Bagh to watch the sun rise
behind the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately, it was very foggy and
we could not enjoy the Taj
Mahal at full glance yet. However, after breakfast the sky
had cleared and we enjoyed
the Taj Mahal in its full glory.
This breathtaking view became even more spectacular
for several participants, after
we met Dutch television star
Patty Brard. Our last stop before travelling back to Tilburg,
was the Agra Fort. This red,
walled city had been home to
several emperors.
After this day, which had
been the icing on the cake
of the studytour, it was time
to head home again. After
stops in New Delhi, London
and Dusseldorf we arrived at
Tilburg University, where a
very enthousiastic welcoming
committee was waiting for
us. Our two weeks in India
have been unforgettable and
I would like to thank the committee and all participants for
this everlasting experience!

Bestemming India

Transcription

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