India was among the seven countries that had been shortlisted by the city of Frankfurt, in consultation with the Frankfurt Rhein Main GmbH (inward investment agency), for a targeted approach aimed at facilitating economic and business relations. This was disclosed by the Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt Mr Peter Feldman during his recent meeting with the Consul General of India Mr. Raveesh Kumar,in Frankfurt. Lord Mayor further stated that his office was working towards aligning the functioning of the city bureaucracy to the needs of the Frankfurt business community and offered to provide any support which the Indian business community needed from the City.   

The hour-long discussion centred on expanding the strong economic relations between India and the city of Frankfurt. Consul General briefed the Lord Mayor on the recent initiatives of the Consulate, specially on strengthening the economic and trade ties between the two sides, and increasing the outreach activities in view of the growing number of Indian professionals and students in the states within the Consulate’s jurisdiction. The Frankfurt Rhein Main region is home to over 6000 Indians and about 210 Indian companies, including more than 60 Indian IT companies, many of them having their German/European headquarters in this region. State Bank of India and ICICI Bank too have their presence in Frankfurt. In this context, the Consul General informed the Lord Mayor about the launch of the ‘India Business Forum’, an initiative to bring together Indian professionals and entrepreneurs on one platform and the ‘Friends of India’ group, to bring together India-focused cultural Associations under one umbrella. 

In the course of the interaction, the Consul General and Lord Mayor discussed the feasibility of setting up a branch of an Indian school in Frankfurt, Indian participation at the Frankfurt Carnival, avenues for contribution by the Indian community in welfare activities in the city and the possibility for twinning of Frankfurt with an Indian city. The Lord Mayor agreed to facilitate in setting up of an Indian school. He also welcomed the suggestion for Indian participation in the Frankfurt Carnival, which is one of the largest in Germany. He promised to involve the Indian community in community welfare programmes run by the City. Lord Mayor agreed to the idea of a possible twinning of Frankfurt with a city in India.

Frankfurt, as an international business, banking and transportation hub is important for closer economic integration of India and Germany. The two sides agreed to work together to realise the above objective.