Key Notes

Rudolf Thomeer

Mr. Thomeer is Head of the International Business Clients Desks. From 2011 he started as a member of the NICCT Board. He also holds a position in the NCH Board. Mr. Thomeer has been active in banking in varying positions within the Netherlands and abroad (Poland, France and Singapore and Belgium). He has a Master degree in Economics from the University of Leuven

Ram Lakhina

Mr. Lakhina is the Founder and Chairman of the Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce and Trade (NICCT). He has been espousing the interests of Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) for more than 30 years. Decorated with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award and the “Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau” he is celebrated for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of Indo Dutch cooperation. He is an entrepreneur by profession and has been engaged in International commerce for more than 35 years. He holds B.A. (Honours) degree from the University of Delhi in India and M.A. (economics) degree from the University of Minnesota in USA.

Bob Hiensch

Mr. Hiensch has been the Ambassador of The Netherlands to India in Delhi since December 2007. He has been employed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1976. He served in several positions of the Foreign Affairs Ministry abroad. He has been active in Kinshasa Hong Kong, Paris, Israel and New York. At the Ministry in The Hague he served as Head of the Southern Africa Department. Previously, Mr. Hiensch served in the Dutch army from 1968 to 1969, worked for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and was elected city councilor in the town of Loosdrecht and served in that capacity till his departure to his first diplomatic assignment in 1977. He holds a doctoral degree in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam.

Wouter van Benten

Mr. van Benten (47) has been active as CEO of DHL Express The Netherlands and as member of the European Management Board for more than one year and a half. DHL Express The Netherlands has over 5.000 employees working in national as well as international express transport and distribution. Before DHL Express, Mr. Van Benten occupied varying management positions at DHL, Nedlloyd and Danzas. Wouter van Benten has a degree in Business Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Mr. Praveen P. Kadle

Mr. Praveen P. Kadle is the Managing Director & CEO of Tata Capital Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited. Tata Capital is a non-bank finance company offering products and services ranging from retail and commercial lending, distribution and broking, wealth management, investment banking and private equity.

Mr. Kadle has been working for the Tata's for the last 19 years. He started as Chief Financial Officer of Tata's Joint Venture with IBM in India and later transferred to Tata Motors Limited where he was appointed to the Board of Tata Motors Limited as Executive Director - Finance and Corporate Affairs.

Prior to his joining the Tata's, Mr. Kadle worked as the CEO and member of the Board of Garware-Wall Ropes Limited, a synthetic yarn, industrial fabric & synthetic cordage company.

Mr. Kadle is an Hons. Graduate in Commerce & Accountancy from the Bombay University and has qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Cost & Works Accountant and Company Secretary.

Reflection

Michiel Steeman

Michiel Steeman is Chairman of the Board of Partnership Foundation. This foundation has introduced a ground breaking franchise formula to help streetchildren in India. This so called Rainbow Home model is a scalable solution based on the belief that each and every school can be transformed into a home for streetchildren. Started in 2002 there are now more than 25 Rainbow Homes across India. The Indian government has embraced the model and plans for a large scale roll out across the country. Next to his role at Partnership Foundation he works full time at ING as Director Strategy and Business Development. He is also Member of the worldwide Executive Board of Factors Chain International for the past 2 years. He holds a masters degree in financial economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Partnership Foundation

Panel

Moderator: Jeroen Smit

Jeroen Smit is a research journalist and author of the books 'Het drama Ahold' en 'De Prooi: Blinde trots breekt ABN Amro'. He started his career in consultancy. In 1990 he switched to journalism. He worked as an editor for the Financiële Dagblad and the Algemeen Dagblad and became editor in chief and publisher of FEM/De Week in 1998. Alongside his editing work he became active at the Erasmus University, teaching the postgraduate training Journalism. He also contributed to varying television and radio shows. He graduated from the University of Groningen with a Degree in Business.

Louwrens Dijkstra

Mr. Dijkstra has been with Hyva since 1990, first as Executive Vice President, focusing on finance and business development, then since 2004 as Chief Executive Officer. His responsibility is to define and implement Hyva Group strategy and lead the management team of the business. Before joining Hyva Mr. Dijkstra was Managing Director of West Holland Milieu BV, part of the international waste collection company Browning Ferris Industries from 1985 to 1989. He began his career as a banker with NMB bank, now part of ING Group. He graduated from the Erasmus University with a Degree in Economic and Business Administration.

Punnika Kharas

Mrs. Kharas is Executive Vice President, Global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) & Sourcing at Wolters Kluwer. In this role Mrs. Kharas is responsible for the harmonization of business process and data models in the areas of sourcing, process standardization, and off-shoring. Previously, Ms. Kharas occupied varying management positions at Wolters Kluwer ( Global Business Process Owner and Chief Financial Officer for the European regions of the Legal & Regulatory division), Compaq, Digital Equipment and Borg Warner Chemicals.
Ms. Kharas is a Certified Accountant (U.K.) and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Mumbai, India.

Wilbert Kannekens

Mr. Kannekens is Head of the KPMG’s Global International Corporate Tax Group. The group consists of more than 500 partners in 59 countries. He is a member of KPMG’s High Growth Markets Steering Group. Mr. Kannekens has 25 years of experience in International Tax, and is as such involved in International Tax Planning, Pan European Advice and Projects, Cross Border reorganizations, Business Transformation, R&D incentives, APA’s and Tax Rulings. He has built up an extensive knowledge of tax law and general business conditions in jurisdictions world-wide. For over 10 years he has been extensively involved in advising East Indian companies investing abroad and European companies investing India.

Rob Rühl

Mr. Rühl is Head of Business Economics of the Economics Department of ING Commercial Banking. In this role his principal responsibilities is to deliver strategic studies for ING Group’s Board and lines of business, publish articles, deliver speeches and radio interviews on developments in emerging markets, especially on C&EE, Turkey, India and China. Mr. Rühl
occupied varying positions at ING and is a expert in the field of international macroeconomics. Rob Rühl has a Degree from the Amsterdam School for Business Economics and Law and a Master degree in Macro Economics and International Economic Relations degree from the Amsterdam University

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