(NEWS) Delegation from Gujarat, India Visits WMU

September

2014

Delegation from Gujarat, India Visits WMU

On 23 September, WMU welcomed a delegation from the State of Gujarat, India. The delegation was headed by AK Rakesh, Vice Chairman and CEO, Gujarat Maritime Board and included Jinofer Bhujwala, Chairman, Aatash Power Pvt. Ltd., Hariharan Iyer, CFO, APM Terminals, Rajnish Khandelwal, Vice President, Corporate, JM Baxi Group, Prahlad Tanwar, Director, Transport & Logistics, KPMG, and Chaitanya Pawde, Management Consulting, Infrastructure & Government Services, KPMG. It was a particular pleasure to welcome back alumnus Rajnish Khandelwal (M.Sc. 2000, SM).

The purpose of the meeting was for the delegation to become familiar with WMU and to start discussions about potential avenues of collaboration. The delegation provided a video presentation about Gujarat, and in turn, Acting Vice President Academic, Patrick Donner, made a presentation about WMU.

Located on the western coast of India, Gujarat is one of the fastest growing states of the country in terms of economic and social development. The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), established in April 1982, is the nodal agency for administrating and managing all ports of Gujarat, aside from the port of Kandla. There is currently not a dedicated maritime education institute located in the state, and the GMB is interested in founding a maritime university with support from both private and public players. Therefore, the Government of Gujarat formed this international delegation to explore global opportunities for collaboration. The delegation has an agenda of extensive meetings planned with a variety of global institutions to inform their efforts in establishing a maritime university in Gujarat.

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