DR. R.K. KHANDAL Ref: DO/RKK
DIRECTOR
Date: October 31, 2007
Dear Prof. Chi
Sub: West Lake International Conference on SMB and WAITRO Forum 2007; A Successful event
First of all, kindly accept our felicitations for the successful event organized so well by you and your team. It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to interact with the entrepreneurs and experts of China. During our stay there, we have had purposeful interactions with delegates and speakers which we feel will result into long-term action plan for collaborative studies leading to development of innovative technologies and transfer of technologies for the growth of small and medium enterprises. In nutshell the objectives for which the conference was held were completely achieved and all credit for this goes to the efforts made by you and your team besides of course, to your organizational capabilities.
May I avail this opportunity to express my views and impressions for your reference and perusal for future. This would be concerning the following areas:
i) Developments in China and commitment of policy makers for achieving growth.
ii) Role of Chinese in the prosperity of China.
iii) The training and education of young students to deal with challenges
iv) The technical excellence of conference and level of speakers
v) Possibilities of future collaborations one is to one as well as through WAITRO.
i) Developments in China and commitment of policy makers for achieving growth.
We felt quite great seeing the capability building projects being implemented as well as being initiated to bring China as a world leader in Science and Technology. The development of infrastructure is one remarkable thing that impressed me a lot, personally. Had a fair amount of opportunity even to have a look at the situation in the interiors of the Hangzhou province and I must say that it is just superb. This shows that the future is bright for the future generations of China.
For all this to happen, the role played by the policy makers is quite notable. It was evident during our stay there by the fact that the mayor of Hangzhou and the senior officials of the province reached the site half an hour before the start of the conference; further, the Mayor look time off to meet the international speakers along with the high officials of WAITRO. I found this as a very kind gesture on the part of the Mayor to have spared his valuable time out of his such a busy schedule. Further, this also shows that the policy makers in China are highly committed to the growth of Science and Technology in the country. The involvement of the policy makers in such scientific programmes provide a motivational effect for the organisers.
The support of the policy makers for the creation of entrepreneurs and development of SMBs was also evident from the opening remarks given by the high officials. The aim to develop ‘Harmonious Society’ through harmonious growth can be easily achieved if there exists such a team work between the policy makers and industries. During the visit on October 23, 2007 it was noticeable as to how the industry and government work for the common goal and the common good of the people.
ii) Role of Chinese in the prosperity of China.
Nothing can be possible in the society unless there is full involvement of the members of all sections of the society in the implementation of the schemes. The fact that the conference was held during the weekend and not during the working days of the week demonstrates the commitment with which the Chinese work. The attendance in the audience was quite impressive even at the end of the day i.e. Sunday. All the people worked as a group and went to any possible extent to make our stay in China a memorable experience.
In spite of the fact that the conference was organized in a superb manner, every one was looking for a feed back from the visitors for improvements in future. This habit of asking for comments and suggestions for improvements was seen prevalent almost every where. All were found asking for suggestions for improvement. This is a very good attitude and will go long way in realizing the goals in life. Each one there apparently knew their role in the whole plan of things there. The industry-University interactions were found to be very good and I personally feel that this is a very good sign for the growth of SMBs. This will enable the professors to have an exposure to the ground realities of the market on the one hand for the purpose of the development of suitable technologies but will also help them to educate, train and develop the suitable human resource for the industries on the other hand. At the same time, industries would be able to derive maximum benefits for such a congenial coordination and working relationship.
iii) The training and education of young students to deal with challenges
The most impressive aspect of the conference which I found very useful for success of the event is the involvement of young students in all the activities of the conference. The way, the volunteers received the international visitors at the airport and then dropped them back was remarkable as well as commendable. Even during our stay throughout the period except when we went for sleep, the volunteer designated for each guest served with smile. For me, my volunteer Mr. Martin was very useful and I will never forget the way he took care of me during my stay there. I am sure all the guests must have had the same experience with their respective volunteers. Now, this, I feel is the best way of training the young talent to deal with the challenges of life besides providing the virgin minds with an opportunity to have exposure of the culture different from their own by interacting with the guests from outside China. All kudos goes to the volunteers, of course, for their part that they played in making our stay memorable as also in making the event successful but the appreciation is due also to their professors who thought of such an idea.
Seeing the focussed approach of the young volunteers, both boys and girls, and their dedication towards their country, I personally have no doubt that China would become the world leader in all areas of Science and Technology.
iv) The technical excellence of conference and level of speakers
The topics chosen and the speakers selected for the topics were another contributing factor for the success of the conference. While the international experts of eminence and long-standing experience of making things happen were invited to present the state-of-the-art on different aspects of technology and innovation, the presentations made by the Chinese scholars were full of relevance and real life care studies necessary for the experts to understand. The presentations made by Professors from University in China were quite revealing as they dealt directly with the issues the SMBs face in their day-to-day operations. The presentation by Professor Chi, I found, was quite interesting and it involved a lot of useful technical experience worth imitating. The presentations by experts like Dr. Fuchs, Dr. Rohani, Mr. Nawawi, Dr. Kohrs Aldape of WAITRO were really of highly technical class. The speakers from US, Australia and other countries were also highly impressive. The case studies presented by several professors from China clearly brought out the role being played by Universities to help industries build their technical capability, by presenting the case studies.
v) Possibilities of future collaborations one is to one as well as through WAITRO.
From this conference, which was the joint effort of West Lake International Conference and WAITRO forum, it has become quite clear that there exist several possibilities of having collaborative research programmes. The WAITRO, as an organization of several R & T organizations all over the world, can be right platform for cooperation and collaborations amongst the various stakeholders across the world. In my opinion, the participation of WAITRO has added value to the technical content of the conference.
In the end, I wish to state that this conference will certainly result into joint efforts leading to development of technologies for SMBs. For any possibility of collaboration between the R & T organizations in China and Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, we will look forward to your inputs and views.
Looking forward to your views. Thanking you once again for all that you did for us during our stay in China and also thanks to the volunteers during this period.
With best regards,
(R.K.Khandal
DIRECTOR & Dr.
SHRIRAM INSTITUTE FOR INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH
(A Unit of Shriram Scientific and Industrial Research Foundation)
19, UNIVERSITY ROAD
DELHI - 110007
INDIA.
VISIT US AT www.shriraminstitute.org |
