Latest news from MK Consulting
03 / 2024
INDIA - a future market for the sports business ?
Together with Kaushik MOULIK, who is responsible for projects in India at USC GmbH, a subsidiary of MK Consulting GmbH, an extensive program was prepared.
The trip started on 24/02/24 in India's capital New Dehli, with over 32 million inhabitants one of the largest metropolises in the world, where the WITT (What India Thinks Today) Global Summit was held on 25/26 02 2024 under the theme "INDIA - Poised for the Next Big Leap" in the traditional hotel and event center "The Ashok". The congress was organized by TV9, India's largest news network with 6 different nationwide channels. In high-level discussion and interview sessions, the focus was on "Sports & Entertainment" on day 1 and "Geopolitics & Economy" on the second day. The Ministers of State for Defense, Sports/Youth/Information, Women/Children/Minorities, External Affairs, India's Ambassador to the G20 countries, several Bollywood stars, leading Indian AI-, IT-, Corporate- and Financial managers were guests, as well as international guests from politics (such as the former Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott), the financial sector and sports. The highlight on the evening of 26/02 was an almost hour-long speech by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in front of 1,000 invited guests.
Our Managing Director Markus Kraetschmer took part in the panel discussion "SPORTS BURNISHING - An Opportunity for New India" together with DFL International CMO Peer Neubert as an international expert together with the national coach Badminton Gopichand (very popular in India), sports manager Khaneja (No. 1 in India) and the marketing manager Singh of the TATA car company. Kraetschmer also took part in a Discussion named India's World Cup Dream | News9 Global Summit (youtube.com), together with DFL-representative Peer Neubert, BVB Head for Asia-Pacific Region Julia Farr and Tharun Bhatia, CEO of AMUL (The Taste of India), the largest dairy products producer in India and one of the largest sports sponsors at national and international level (Argentina), to discuss the opportunities that sport can offer children and young people for their future and what concrete initiatives can be taken. Markus Kraetschmer also conducted an interview with TV 9 to explain the activities of KENSTON, the USC projects planned from Q2/2024 (regular camps in the D-A-CH region for Indian children from India but also from other countries (India Football Centre), exchange programs for doctors and lawyers, etc.), but also opportunities with training programs through the IFI and opportunities in the care sector.
The nomination for a 20-strong delegation of foreign guests, who were invited to a short get-together with Prime Minister Modi under high security precautions (see joint photo) before the host of the last G20 summit gave a much admired speech of around one hour in front of around 1,000 invited guests, which was met with long applause, can be seen as a great honor for the KENSTON delegation. This delegation also included RIESPO founder and partner of MK Consulting GmbH Gerhard RIEDL, who has also been working with Kaushik Moulik since summer 2023 to drive forward the implementation of both the RIESPO Database and the RIESPO Academy in the Indian market for several months through Markus Kraetschmer. He was one of only two people selected to present the Prime Minister with an exclusive gift of Gmunden ceramics! Riedl, who also acts as chairman of SV Gmunder Milch, will also be the first club in Austria to present an Indian talent from the 2024 spring season with Varman Ramprogas.
Of course, the invitations to the dinners on both evenings were used to establish new top contacts with interesting partners that can be further developed in the coming months. The fact that almost 1,000 Indian companies and private individuals have already acquired shares in companies in the region GER, A and CH also offers great prospects for forming partnerships and consultancy mandates in the coming months. At the end of the intensive days in Dehli, there was a great meeting with TV9 CEO Barun DAS and his top management team together with KENSTON owner and CEO Sebastian Uckermann, which will already be used in March to find synergies on both sides.
On the evening of 27/02/24, the KENSTON delegation reached the economic metropolis of MUMBAI, the second largest city with a population of over 20 million and the absolute financial center of the subcontinent. Here, numerous meetings were held with the owners and CEOs of some selected top Indian companies, mainly from the real estate and telecommunications sectors. Here, too, the discussions showed that these companies are interested in a trusting and sustainable partnership and that, on the one hand, numerous projects in Mumbai and other cities show great development and investment potential, but that these partners are also looking for investment opportunities internationally and that KENSTON Business in particular can act as a globally networked partner here.
Markus Kraetschmer sums up his first trip to India very positively: "It was a very valuable and instructive time in India's two largest metropolises - once again it has become clear that the preparatory work of the last few months was very important and valuable, and that there really are opportunities for cooperation in many areas!
As Managing Director of KENSTON Business in Germany, Austria, the UAE and the UK, it has become clear to me that we can gain new partners for our international projects, have also found access to highly interesting investment opportunities and can show Indian investors from German companies the opportunities offered by KENSTON PENSION.
In the field of sport, the exchange programs in Soccer, but possibly also in Volleyball and Basketball (the three most popular sports among students) will offer many young Indian girls and boys the opportunity to come to Europe for the first time to compete with teams and get to know new countries - a major focus for the Indian government, as was evident in the panel discussion at the WITT Summit with the sports minister. However, training programs with the IFI or for doctors and lawyers with various clubs will also have to be successfully implemented.
The numerous discussions on the fringes of the summit and the contacts made will also help to meet the necessary demand for nursing staff in Austria and Germany in a structured manner. The potential is enormous!"
Kraetschmer concludes with a smile: "I was very positively surprised by the friendliness of the people and the high level of service orientation. The political and economic representatives have shown themselves to be very self-confident with the clear goal of continuously developing what is currently the fastest growing national economy! We were able to take away many valuable, positive and great impressions, but also a lot of contacts and work - and that's a very good thing!"
