DPE secretary OP Rawat to represent India at ICPE meet in Slovenia

A lighter moment at ICPE's 2011 meet

COME Monday, OP Rawat, secretary of department of public enterprises, will be in Slovenian city of Ljubljana to represent India in the annual meet of International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE), a Slovenia-headquartered United Nations initiative with member countries from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Being the current chairperson of ICPE Council, India is likely to propose...
widening of the base of the 38-year-old intergovernmental organization by incorporating companies, both public and private, as stakeholders. If such a move materializes, Indian Inc including public sector giants such as ONGC, SAIL, BHEL etc. may use the ICPE muscle to engage with their counterparts in Latin America, Africa and even Europe.
Significantly, India and Slovenia are the two major shareholders of ICPE as they had contributed more money than other member nations. And that’s why ICPE’s two key posts, President and Director General, remain with India and Slovenia which swap those posts every four years. The Director General who gets a four-year term is located in Ljubljana. Earlier, Priyadarshi Thakur, a 1970 batch IAS officer, had served as Director General of ICPE. India is likely to send a senior officer as DG next year.
That India is serious in taking the ICPE to the next level could be gauged from the fact that there has been intensive preparation in the run-up to the September 24 meet to be held in Ljubljana. DPE secretary Rawat has already held discussion with ambassador of India to Slovenia Jayakar Jerome and Slovenian ambassador to India Janez Premože in this regard.
The ICPE conducts seminars and training programmes for public officials, businesses and scientists, and hosts international expert group meetings. Also, it conducts an international MBA programme in collaboration with the University of Ljubljana, which has produced over 600 MBAs belonging to 45 countries.