The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) partnering The Consulate General of Russia in Kolkata, organized a focused Business Delegation to St Petersburg, Russia between 13th and 19thNovember 2017 for participation at the “Global Entrepreneurship Week 2017 (GEW - 2017)” which was organized between 13th and 19th November 2017 at Saint - Petersburg, Russia.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) commenced in 2007 is an annual international symposium and exposition which is organized for entrepreneurs/MSMEs and also Startups from within Russia and overseas countries representing various sectors.This year, the Global Entrepreneurship Week – 2017 (GEW - 2017) was organized by Opora Russia (the largest non–governmental association of Entrepreneurs/MSMEs in Russia). The objective of GEW 2017 was to initiate a global movement to inspire people globally to unleash their ideas and take the next leap towards their entrepreneurial journey. This event provided the platform ofa single global entrepreneurial ecosystem covering 170 countries to share ideas and turn them into promising ventures like creating jobs, accelerating innovation and strengthening economic stability around the world. As India was the focus country, there was a large participation from Indian entrepreneurs/MSMEsin this mega programme.

The Bengal Chamber was privileged to have with us in Saint Petersburg Shri S Kishore, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industry, Commerce and Enterprises Department, Government of West Bengal, who represented the State Government at GEW 2017 and invited the Government of Saint Petersburg to participate in BGBS 2018. The other delegates from the Chamber were,

- Mr Debkumar Basu, Chairperson, Manufacturing & MSME Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Director, ZETADEL Technologies P. Ltd.
- Mr Chiranjib Bhattacharya, Chief Executive Officer, Wizertech Informatics Pvt. Ltd.
- Ms Sila Singh Ghosh, Vice President- Corporate Relations, JIS Group
- Mr Supriyo Ghosh, Sr Member, Manufacturing & MSME Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Managing Partner, M/s Girish Ch Ghosh & GGS
- Mr Mahadi Hossain, Technical Supervisor, M/s Girish Ch. Ghosh & GGS

Apart from the Indian delegation, there were also delegations from other countries like China, Finland, Syria, UK, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, USA, UAE, Nigeria, Kenya, etc.

In this long week of GEW – 2017, there were exhibitions and concurrent sessions like round-tables, lecture series, workshops, discussions, seminars, etc on various sectors for the budding entrepreneurs/MSME units and last but not the least there were separate B2B meetings for the delegates.

The delegates from the Chamber, as part of GEW - 2017, had the opportunity of having some good B2B meetings in Saint – Petersburg like meetings at The Saint – Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, INGRIA Business Incubator, Russia, First Business Incubator in Russia and also a visit to The REP Holding, Nevskiy Plant.

Besides, there was a dedicated session organized for the Indian delegates which was on "India – Russia Co- operation" and the objective of organizing this session was to understand the different formats of business collaborations between India and Russia.

Shri S Kishore, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industry, Commerce and Enterprises Department, Government of West Bengal was one of the eminent speakers at this session.The entire session was conducted by Opora Russia. The GEW – 2017 was organized taking into account the emerging sectors like Engineering, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Leather, Textiles and Garments, Gems and Jewellery, Transport and Logistics, Education, Skill Development, Food Processing and Agro, Infrastructure, Energy and Power, Healthcare, Tourism, Hospitality, IT & ITeS, Refractories, Pharmaceuticals, Shipping, etc.