Ex-IAS officer gets invite to speak in EU Parliament

Ananatapur:An invitation to address the EU Parliament in Brussels has come to B Lakshmi Kantham, vice chair to the International Trade and Business Alliances. He is a former IAS officer from AP.

Lakshmi Kantham had worked as JEO of TTD and collector of Krishna district. He was also a director of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore and received nearly 100 international and national awards and in this context has been cited in the India Book of Records.

A total of 44 parliament members and representatives of 2740 companies across the globe are taking part in the Brussels meeting. The entity formed in 2011 has been striving to improving trade between India and UK and the European Union. The Brussels meeting focuses on renewable energy and related cooperation and academic subjects.

Lakshmi Kantham had been the speaker in the last session held at Brussels while the present meeting would be held in June.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Lakshmi Kantham said the EU India relationship dated back to the early 1960s. The two sides shared interests in trade and investment, security, climate change and sustainable development. The upcoming session would focus on the critical milestones in the history of India-EU trade relations, he said.

The discussions will focus on companies that have successfully collaborated or are exploring collaboration on semiconductor projects between the EU and India. Attempts would be made in helping the semiconductor industry in India and the EU, as also enhancing trade, investment, and technology transfer in the semiconductor sector between the two sides.