Interview with Kiran Malhotra
Economic Ambassador of the City of Cologne

When did you come to Germany and tell us about your academic background?

I came to Germany in 1971 and completed my Mechanical Training with Linde AG in Cologne and went to the University of Cologne for higher studies as Engineer for Processing Engineering. I established my own company in 1980 and still working for this company.

What was your motivation to become an economic ambassador of the City of Cologne?

My motivation to become economic ambassador of the City of Cologne was to help people and i am living in Cologne since i came to Germany and developed good relations with the local administration who then suggested me to become the economic ambassador of the City of Cologne. This was then announced on the 17.Oct.2005 by the Mayor of the City of Cologne in a ceremony held in the city hall.

What is your job you have to do as an economic ambassador?

My job is to represent the City of Cologne and inform the Investors that the City of Cologne is an excellent buisness center for Investors with very good infrastructure and of course the basic idea is to create more jobs in and around the City of Cologne.

What are the future activities you are planning to do for which you got this remarkable commendation?

Regarding the future activities the Mayor Office plans to hold different meetings in the city hall of Cologne in which we will invite Investors from all over the world to participate in this meeting which is so called "Buisness Development Meeting" in which the Investors interests will be studied and then implemented accordingly. The economic development department of City of Cologne is also taking part in these meetings and is helpful to us in clearing all different matters concerned with the Investors relations. The City of Cologne is also a very multi cultural city with 180 Nationalities living peacefully together in this City which should help Investors to make their positive decision for the City of Cologne. We are also planning a delegation from Germany to visit India this year and will have meetings at different levels in the administration along with the Entrepreneurs and NGOs to check the further possibilities and projects.

Why did you choose Germany to live / to work?

I came to Germany as an student and the working environment for me had been good and the people were friendly so that i decided to stay here.

What is the main focus of your work?

The main focus of my work is to convince Investors that they should invest in the City of Cologne.

What are your goals you expect from your job as an economic ambassador?

The economic ambassador has been appointed with the clear goal to create more jobs in the City of Cologne.

What do you want to achieve (personally) / as a promoter of the city?

My personal achievement is not very important but it is to be underlined that the ambassadors job is to promote the City of Cologne throughout the world and if possible to achieve that more people visit our city and carry with them good and positive memories from our city.

Some words about Indian economy?

The message to global community is that India is the fastest growing free market democracy and is open for Investments. A record 3,9 million tourists visited India last year which is an increase of about 25% and this is one of the factor which will make Indian economy strong.

How do you think will India's economy growth go on?

The Indian Economy is getting robust and the growth could reach up to 9-10% in the next few years. We have a broad based national consensus that the process of economic growth will enhance.

How would you describe the economic growth of India?

The economic growth of India depends on various factors and one of the important factor at the moment is time factor. I mean that India must not loose the pace and must carry on with the economic reforms. India's qualified youth population is another demographic factor which is helping the growth of Indian economy.

What do you think will be the scenario in 5 years?

The scenario in next 5 years would be that the Indian economy would play a major role in the world and that all multi national companies would have doubled their turnover in India. This depends much on the Political scenario also, which means that the Indian administration should be able to continue with the introductory reforms and open the Indian market for the Investors. Also the Indian Government has announced to Invest 150 Billions Dollars in the cource of next few years and the NGOs are also on their way to buildup good infrastructure in India and the world is looking in a positive way towards India - You can see the results from the "World Economic Forum 2006" which took place in Davos few days back and India was "Everywhere" and few Indian Corporates have spend few Millions Dollars in Davos to show that India is ready to take over their responsibilities.

What do you think about the role of Indian and Germany economy?

I dont think that the Bilateral economic relations between India and Germany have reached their highs and both countries have still long way to go but the buisness relations are developing in the right direction.

Can you imagine of a closer relationship between India and Germany in the field of buisness relations?

India and Germany had allways been very close and i think that the buisness relationsship will continue to grow as both partners are able to depend to each other. The buisness relations also depends on the cultural relationship and i think that the cultural relationship between the both countries is extremely good and accepted by the both countries.

Tell us something about the job market situation in India and what German Indians can expect in India?

The job and market situation in India is opening up and professionals can expect good jobs within India and I see that lot of Corporate Houses are in the process to invest funds in India and also Government Organisations are now changing their policies for the Investors which will help further for the multi national corporates to take positive decisions for their Investments in India. For professional German Indian the job market situation is positive and also people who have opened their own buisness in India have been quite successful.

Some words and tips from you to the younger Indian generation in Germany?

The young Indian generation which i could evaluate is that they have high Aims and i hope that they can establish themself in Germany but it is not very easy to find a responsible job as the job opportunities are little restricted and the expectations from the German Corporates are quite high but i know some Indian cases and they have been performing quite well. My personal tips to the youth would be to have a strong academic background with foreign experience and should be able to speak few languages.

Thanks a lot for this interview.