We received 7 queries on who we are and what we do. Mr. Lokesh Parashar & Mr. Sumit Chhabra attended the Book Release by SEPC and interacted with Mumbai Income Tax Commissioner, the book writer. High Commissioner of Rwanda released the book on Business Opportunities in Homestays Model of Accommodations.

Second day was a lot busier, many visitors were curious to know what is BAA & who are Buying Agents and we had 20 visitors. Mr. Parashar attended 2 Seminars relevant for BAA:

• India an emerging IP Destination On the Panel -Mr. Sudhanshu Pandey-Joint Secretary (Commerce), Justice Pratibha Singh-High Court Judge, Gawree Gokhale, Senior Lawyer Sunita Sreedharan & Rahul Chitnis. At the end of the first seminar, Mr. Parashar complimented SEPC for organizing GES and making it a successful event and also suggested to the Seminar Panel that BAA will be very happy to act as a nodal body which can be approached by the Judiciary in matters related to disputes between exporters or Buying Agents where deep industry specific knowledge is needed. BAA can work as the platform duly appointed by the Courts to look at the disputes and related matters as professionals of the industry. All the Panel & attendees recognized BAA and had clear understanding of what Buying Agents do.

• Making India a Hub for International Commercial Arbitration On the Panel – Mr. Sudhanshu Pandey-Joint Secretary (Commerce), Mr. James J Nedumpara –Professor & Head Centre for Trade & Investment Law (CTIL), Mr Ajay Thomas-Vice Chairman, ICC India Arbitration Group, Ms. Neeti Sachdeva -Registrar & GS at MCIA, Mumbai, Mr. Kavi Raj-GS at Indian National Bar Association & few others At the Q&A session, Mr. Parashar once again introduced BAA to Panel as well as attendees. MCIA as well as ICC-India has expressed keenness to meet BAA in New Delhi as soon as possible to explore how they can help our members resolve issues between Agents & Exporters or with Buyers. We will work towards framing a policy on how to make such associations effective for benefits to all members.Mr Parashar also networked with Mr. Pascal Kerneis -Managing Director of European Services Forum, Dr. Norbert Reveia-Bere- Consul General of Hungary at another seminar. He was also interviewed by Department of Commerce, Government of India Twitter Cell on GES experience. Mr. Sumit Chhabra met a few important companies to discuss possibilities of tie-ups Air India – They have wselcomed BAA as a group and offered discount on their cargo rates. BAA team will take this further and get back with update.

• Blue Dart – They have also offered attractive special rates on both domestic & international couriers. Further negotiations will be done in coming weeks.  Mr. Rahul Agarwal of Times Group, Mumbai – Times Group organizes evens and trade shows overseas. Mr. Rahul wants to explore avenues where BAA members can participate in such trade events. More details will be shared after Mr. Rahul & Trade Fair Committee works out the way to work on this.