GOPIO LAUNCHES SOUTH AFRICA CHAPTER T he past decade has seen a syn- ergistic teaming up of Indian missions abroad with the Minis- try of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and large overseas Indian organiza- tions to leverage our Diaspora’s strength in their host countries to en- hance bilateral ties with India. This has manifested itself in a plethora of high-profi le engagements spanning the globe, from Pravasi Bharatiya Divas events in India and abroad, and the celebration of key milestone events that saw the spread of Indian Diaspo- ra across the continents of the world. The Global Organization for People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) is one of the largest entities espousing affairs of the overseas Indian in the Diaspora world. While present in most countries, it had maintained a low profi le in South Africa, a country with a sizeable In- dian origin population, for almost a decade. This scenario changes now, with the GOPIO inaugurating their Durban Chapter recently. A series of seminars and round ta- bles preceded this launch in Johan- nesburg, Durban and Cape Town, which focused on charting the Diaspo- ra’s own journey in their home coun- tries now, and what the Indian Govern- ment brings to the table for enhancing its engagement with the overseas In- dian community. PIOs, who largely make up the 160 year old Indian com- munity in South Africa, and the ever growing numbers of NRIs need to learn of and grasp opportunities via govern- ment schemes available to them, to participate in the strides being made by the home country in a wide range of sectors. While the old emotional con- nect is a taken, a new paradigm shift is needed to connect the gen-next to India, by creating academic and busi- ness opportunities in a world that is practically without borders. Co-host Abdullah Verachia, head of the India Africa Business Network at the Gordon Institute of Business Sci- ence, said a dialogue about the role the Diaspora can play was the need of the day, as Diaspora communities in oth- er countries have started to build stronger bridges with India, and the nearly 1.3 million strong South African Indian community could too. It was time to look at India as one of the fast- est growing economies in the world and partake in this success story, Ve- rachia said. Munish Gupta, GOPIO Coordinator - Africa, hailed the revival of GOPIO activities in South Africa af- ter a gap of many years. While South Africa was always a part of GOPIO In- ternational since its launch and efforts were made to bring the South African Indian community to connect with oth- ers globally, it never did take off until now. The Durban chapter is therefore a new beginning that will establish strong connections for the community with India, and link them seamlessly with the 35 million strong and growing global Indian community as well. The Indian High Commissioner to South Africa, Virendra Gupta, summed up the essence of the engage- ment underlining the role of organiza- tions such as GOPIO on a global scale and others locally, in creating aware- ness on India, working with the GOI and its missions and ministries in cre- ating bridges between overseas Indi- ans and the homeland. And this GO- PIO International launch and semi- nars, could not have been better timed as bilateral relationship between India and South Africa is peaking, and is being further propelled given both countries are members of the BRICS. This coming into being of the Dur- ban Chapter of GOPIO International will link the PIOs and NRIs in South Africa with the widespread Indian Di- aspora community spanning six con- tinents and nearly 50 countries in the world. It also augurs well for a closer engagement with India, which will of- fer bilateral opportunities for two-way fl ow of investments into both India & South Africa. The message of felicita- tion sent by Ela Gandhi, grand-daugh- ter of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi for whom South Africa was almost a second home, was dot on the nail – “... the Diaspora must assume and play a special role to assimilate themselves in their host country as much as they cherish and wish stay with their roots in India ...” K N GUPTA The author is Director of Government Liaison, GOPIO International, and a proactive writer on Overseas Indian affairs
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 13:18:36 +0000
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