Time travel?

Time goes fast, never slows down especially when you think it will… Its been an age since i last attempted to update the kramblog, in mid January in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott.

I was planning to put down a few thoughts / observations about my current trip to India for the Sixth Commonwealth-India Small Business Competitiveness Development Programme for SMEs. My intrepid leader kindly suggested that I should go on his behalf. And I have learnt so much during the last week, hopefully sowed the seeds for future continued work the CCM project and made new friends from all over the commonwealth. So thanks for the opportunity JB.

That reminds me, the last week has been an continued round of “vote of thanks”, praises, thank yous, welcomes, goodbyes, thanks so much of the opportunities, extended gratitudes, appreciations… Speech after speech including Dr Kram doing impromptu TV interviews and addresses in front of 200+ people including a sea of “hungry” Indian press reporters. Whenever we thought that the speeches were done for the day, a new whole series of 24 started up again. Having said that, we were so well treated by our hosts, like true kings.

There is so much to cover over the last week during the Commonwealth-India Small Business Competitiveness Development Programme and I am ready rambling on. From the commonwealth secretariat website:

Theme: SMEs – An engine for Poverty Alleviation, Employment Generation and Export Development The Sixth Commonwealth-India Small Business Competitiveness Development Programme (CW-India Programme) is an institutional capacity building programme being conducted by the Secretariat’s Special Advisory Services Division in partnership with the Coir Board (Ministry of Agro & Rural Industries, Government of India) and Export-Import Bank of India. The overall focus of the CW-India Programme is to promote sustainable competitive small business/SME development across Commonwealth countries, with a skew towards learning from the Indian experience.

So here is a brief list of what went on, observed etc:

• Airport at Kochi – Do all the men in India have moustaches?? I didn’t spot one without at the airport (and very few subsequently during the rest of the trip). If so there must be more in India than the rest of the world put together??
• Being an SME is a developing country is a hard game, near life or death?
• The airport had so so many signs and was relatively quite, I was expecting disorganized chaos
• Kotchi is extremely Humid and hot (38 oC one day)
• Is it Cochin or Kochi, depends really!
• The airport might be quiet, but Kochi town isnt. Its smelly, the traffic the worst i think i have even seen specially in terms of the pollution in back of a auto rickshaw. What will Mumbai (or is that Bombay) be like?
• You can do a lot with the coconut tree including making yarn, mats, plates and quench the first of 70+ hot and thirst delegates from 34 commonwealth countries. I think the group must of went through about 1000 in the week!
• India is the place for business now, if you have a business and your now thinking about collaborating with India you must do so NOW.
• The QE2 isnt as big as it used to be… It was docked in Kochi on the Sunday on part of a around the world cruise

Time has gone again, and AK is here to take me on a tour around Dubai, until later whenever that is?

Mark Swift : 01 Apr 2007 08:49 |  Tags: Travel |  Comments (2) |  Report a problem