Mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in October

Under a tagline “Towards a Dynamic Diaspora,” a mini version of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) will be the second to be organised outside India on October 10th-11th this year.

The decision to organise the event outside India is in accordance to a number of requests received over the years from various quarters.

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This is particularly helpful to those large numbers of Indians in several regions who are not able to participate in the annual PBDs held in India.

The first mini-PBD was organised in New York in September last year. Over 400 delegates belonging to the Indian American community and others had attended the event.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs would jointly host the mini PBD in partnership with the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The event would be more or less regional in nature with participation mainly from ASEAN, Asia Pacific and East Asian countries. However, speakers from other parts of the world are also invited.

Prime Minister of Singapore H. E. Lee Hsien Loong would inaugurate and address the session of the mini PBD on 10th October. The President of Singapore H. E. S.R. Nathan will be the Guest of Honour at the gala dinner being organised the same evening.

The convention would be held at the hotel Ritz Carlton Millennia Singapore and the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is the flagship event of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. It is celebrated in recognition and appreciation of the constructive, economic and philanthropic role played by the Indian Diaspora, on the 9th day of January every year. The date has been chosen because it was on this day that Mahatma Gandhi, a Pravasi Bharatiya in South Africa for almost 2 decades, returned to India in 1915. The next main PBD is scheduled on 7-9 January 2009.