A delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was hosted this week by TAU. The CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led, and industry-managed organization, with around 9000 members from the private as well as public sectors.

CII has an additional, indirect membership of over 300,000 enterprises from 286 national and regional sectoral industry bodies in India. The organization works to create and sustain an environment conducive to India’s development.

High-ranking Industry Leaders

The delegation was chaired by Mr. Rajan Navani, Chairman of the CII’s India@75 Council and vice chairman of Jetline Industries. The group included high-ranking industry leaders from India and the United Arab Emirates.

In their welcome speech, TAU’s VP International Prof. Milette Shamir and Asia Engagement Director at TAU International, Konstantin Platonov, presented an overview of Tel Aviv University and its academic and research initiatives in India and globally. 

Prof. Milette Shamir and Mr. Rajan Navani

Multifaceted Relationship

Prof. Yosi Shacham-Diamand, chairman of Nano Scale Information Technologies at TAU Faculty of Engineering, and Prof. Hadas Mamane Steindel, Head of TAU ‘Sustainable Water’ Laboratory discussed some of their most recent projects in India. These included projects on food security, agriculture management, water sustainability, and beyond.

The CII delegates participated in an insightful panel on Cyber security issues with Dr. Giora Yaron, founding investor and chairman of the board at Itamar Medical; former TAU chairman Mr. Yigal Unna, and Mr. Nathan Shuchami, managing partner at Hyperwise Ventures.

Tel Aviv University has developed a long-standing and multifaceted relationship with CII for several initiatives. These include the India-Israel Forum, a powerful platform that brings together industry and academia of the two countries for an annual conversation on a diverse range of acute topics, such as cyber-security, agriculture technologies, waste management, energy, food and water sustainability and R&D.

The 15th gathering of the Forum will take place in India in December 2022 under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, CII, and the Ananta Aspen Center. 

Featured image: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation