Growing by the year

Grand start: Shahrizat launching the Global Indian Festival 2016 at Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur. With her is Jaggarao (third from left). — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: India is making its presence felt in Malaysia in a bigger way.

The annual Global Indian Festival 2016, which entered its 14th edition this year, has over 300 booths showcasing products from the northern states of India.

The Prime Minister’s special adviser on Women Entrepre­neurship and Professional Develop­ment, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil, said she was thrilled that the festival was growing every year.

“I have been following its progress. It shows the growth of entrepreneurship,’’ she added after launching the annual event at Mid Valley Megamall here yesterday.

Also present was India’s Deputy High Commissioner Nikhilesh Giri.

Founder/CEO of Agenda Suria Communication Sdn Bhd (ASC) Jaggarao Simancha said as the firm in charge of organising the event, they went all out to get more states in India to take part.

“This year, we have added three new states and this is good because India has 33 states and in terms of design and fashion, all states are unique,” he said.

He said among the items on sale this year was the Hyderabad pearl, which could only be found in the southern state known as the “city of pearls”.

Jaggarao said that the company planned to introduce the festival to neighbouring countries, and India itself.

“We are going to Jakarta by the end of the year and Myanmar by the first quarter of 2017,’’ he added.

“We have a lot of products in Malaysia that can be exported overseas but have had minimal exposure abroad,” he added.