The Nationwide Initiative of ICICI Bank in association with CyberMedia.
ICICI Bank, India's second largest bank, in association with CyberMedia, Asia's largest specialty media house, conducted the innovative nation-wide SME CEOs Knowledge series program in New Delhi. They were addressing the Infrastructure cluster and the event got an overwhelming response with over 150 SMEs attending the sessions.
The event started with the Finance Clinic where the entrepreneurs were offered customized expert advice on how to raise capital for business depending on the stage of business and the optimal level of capital mix their business needs, through a discussion on a wide array of topics like - Debt Financing, Private Equity, IPO, M&A, Forex Advice and other risk management products. This was followed by a one-on-one mentoring session with the experts from Marketing & Branding from IIM Kolkata, Taxation from Deloitte, HR, Finance from ICICI Bank, Online Marketing from Google, and ERP from SAP, where each entrepreneur was given enough time to interact with the mentors. The programme concluded with a panel discussion, where the panel in addition to the experts also included a successful entrepreneur like Mr Kabul Chawla, CMD from BPTP Ltd. to share their experiences and knowledge with the aspiring SMEs.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Sanjeev Mantri, General Manager, ICICI Bank said, “Delhi has been the epicenter of growth for the infrastructure industry. Over the past five years, in the wake of the Commonwealth Games, 2010, Delhi continues to gear up itself with phenomenal focus towards creating a city with world-class infrastructure. It is also estimated that by 2025, about 66 per cent of the Indian population would live in urban areas, out of which Delhi will have a considerable share. This gives rise to tremendous opportunities for the SMEs in the infrastructure industry and makes Delhi a prudent choice for us to address the cluster. However, in the current economic context, the SMEs require more intrinsic knowledge and alternative views in the fields of financial management, marketing, human resources etc. to take their businesses to the next level. The ICICI Bank SME CEO Knowledge Series is an opportune platform for the SMEs to interact with a team of experts from these respective fields and get perspectives that will add value to their businesses. It is yet another initiative of ICICI Bank towards creating an effective eco-system for the SMEs.“
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Pradeep Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Cyber Media Group said, "Our entrepreneurs have a great hunger for growth. The SME CEO Knowledge Series will prepare these entrepreneurs for a growth momentum that will propel them into the next stage of growth. In present day and time a Knowledge Economy demands knowledge-intensive enterprises which alone can survive in the ongoing process of globalization and international competition. Real Estate & Infrastructure SME's particularly of Delhi have great potential to grow, they just need little guidance. We hope the series facilitates this process."
The Knowledge Series will spread over 26 cities across India. 14 centres have already been completed with an overwhelming response and this is the 15th location. It is an effort towards promoting an entrepreneurial culture in the country and is a sincere effort to provide a platform wherein problems faced by the SMEs will be analyzed, discussed and workable solutions will be offered.
ICICI Bank has initiated several programs like the SME Dialogue, Emerging India Awards and SME Toolkit to help SMEs interact and transact among themselves as also with large corporations, thereby providing a complete ecosystem to the SMEs to scale up to the next level of growth.
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About ICICI Bank:
ICICI Bank Ltd (NYSE:IBN) is India's largest private sector bank and the second largest bank in the country with consolidated total assets of about US$ 100 billion as of December 31, 2008. ICICI Bank’s subsidiaries include India’s leading private sector insurance companies and among its largest securities brokerage firms, mutual funds and private equity firms. ICICI Bank’s presence currently spans 19 countries, including India. For more information visit www.icicibank.com
About Cybermedia:
CyberMedia, now in its 26th year, is South Asia's first and largest specialty media house, with fifteen publications (including Dataquest, PC Quest, Voice & Data, Bio Spectrum, Living Digital, Global Services and DARE) in the InfoTech, telecom, consumer electronics, biotech and entrepreneurship areas, and is a media value chain including Internet (www.ciol.com), events and television. The group's media services include market research (IDC India), job board (CyberMedia tech jobs portal), content management, multimedia, and media education. CyberMedia also publishes Bio Spectrum Asia from Singapore and Global Services from the U.S.A., the first Indian magazine titles to be published from outside the country for a global audience. For more details, please log on to www.cybermedia.co.in