The IAEF continues its fundraising efforts towards the Clean India Campaign
Integrating business with pleasure, a cricket and commerce night was held recently at the Sandbelt Hotel in Moorabbin by India Australia Exchange Forum (IAEF).
Philip Dalidakis MP, Minister for Small Business, Innovations and Trade, was the chief guest for the evening. The Australia India Business Council (AIBC) supported the event along with sponsors and other community organisations.
Speaking at the event Minister Dalidakis commended IAEF for taking the initiative to engage the Australian and Indian communities through their common love for cricket.
The Minister emphasised the significance of the opportunities created by such relationships that help to progress both at a social and economic level.
India Australia Exchange Forum is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that aims to build robust ties between Australia and India by fostering goodwill and bilateral relationships between the two countries.
IAEFs team of young professionals is focused on strengthening the strategic dialogue to chart the future of Indo-Australian alliance.
They aspire to drive collaborations between the two nations through education, trade, business and cultural exchange.
Their recent networking event saw a good turn out of business professionals, community leaders and stakeholders with plenty of opportunities to connect.
The draw card for the evening was a live IPL match that got little attention as many in attendance preferred to hob nob and take photos instead.
An auction was conducted to raise funds for IAEF’s new charity project. Minister Dalidakis triumphed as an auctioneer as he managed to convince bidders to dig deeper in their pockets for the worthwhile cause.
The funds from the auction will help towards building a community toilet complex in Bikaner, Rajasthan as part of the Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan.
This largest ever cleanliness drive, launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to provide better sanitation through the construction of toilets in India.
In the past IAEF has helped raise over $16,000 to construct six toilets in Jaunti Village in Haryana, India.
A cheque of $5000 was also presented by IAEF that evening, as a contribution towards the Bikaner Toilet project. According to IAEF spokesperson over 25,000 people are expected to benefit from this complex.
As the evening progressed many topics of relevance to the community and businesses were raised with the Minister. The dialogue was constructive and the open forum format of the evening encouraged good interaction.
According to Kunal Mehta, IAEF is an inclusive, forward thinking organisation of like-minded people who wish to contribute towards the community creatively and with innovation.
According to him, people with a similar vision are welcome to collaborate with or join IAEF enabling them to move the organidation forward and create momentum.