The President, Ms Pratibha Devisingh Patil, will pay a State visit to Switzerland from September 30 to October 4 and Austria from October 4 to October 7.
Addressing a press conference to announce the visit, the Secretary (West), Mr M. Ganapathi, said that a 45-member business delegation will accompany the President. “The members include representatives from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham). The President will address the Indo-Swiss Business Forum in Berne on October 4 and the India-Austria Business Forum Meet in Vienna on October 6,” Mr Ganapathi said.
The business delegation will be led by Mr K.K. Modi, Chairman of Modi Enterprises. The areas covered by the delegation members include those in manufacturing, agrochemicals, banking and finance, FMCG, communications, infrastructure, biotechnology, engineering and manufacturing, information technology and the like. There is also the food processing, logistics, trading and textiles.