Come December and Vadodara shall welcome the month on its very first day with the grand opening ceremony of the Vibrant VCCI Global Trade Show, the flagship even of the city and one of the largest events in the country. The 2016 edition aims to offer all national and international participants a global platform to demonstrate their capabilities in design, engineering, equipment and supplies and support services for large projects. The exhibition will also strongly promote the ‘Make in India’ initiative under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This year, in addition to engineering, electrical and service industries, the exhibition will also tap into high growth emerging industries like renewable energy, real estate and infrastructure and environment technology.

Almost 50% participants at Vibrant VCCI Exhibition are from outside Gujarat including Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta and New Delhi among others. The exhibition also has international participants from countries like Canada, Denmark, Italy, UAE and Korea. VCCI exhibitions traditionally have been able to attract a diverse mix of participants and audience-right from MNCs and PSUs to SMEs and MSMEs; and from entrepreneurs and salaried executives, to professionals and students.

With the current edition, the exhibition moves beyond identifying new business opportunities to identifying new geographies. It aims to provide a good platform to young entrepreneurs and industrialists who can share their experiences and encourage innovations on a global level. More than 700 exhibitors across the country will participate in this exhibition spanning a colossal 9 lakh sq.ft of land. Over 5 lakh visitors, including 70,000 business visitors’, international participants and delegations are expected to visit the exhibition.

Vibrant VCCI Global Trade Show is organised by the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), which was set up in 1969 to represent the interests of entrepreneurs in the Makarpura Industrial Area of Vadodara. Today, the Chamber has members industries in and around Vadodara. VCCI enjoys confidence and co-operation of all associations, industrial and commercial, in the city and regular interactions and meeting are organised to deliberate on important issues concerning the growth of small scale industries.

The Chamber is affiliated to various key associations like Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and Federation of Industries Association (FIA).

VCCI has so far played host to nine exhibitions, beginning with 1990. Shows were since held in 1993, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. After 47 years of existence, 9 grand exhibitions and with a large membership of over 3000 industries, VCCI has helped over 83% of the participants from past exhibitions in identifying new opportunities and markets. With an expanded scope, VCCI Exhibition 2016 promises to raise the bar and be bigger, better and more profitable than ever before.

The city of Vadodara, known as Baroda earlier, has a rich history and legacy, dating back to the 9th century with the first recorded history of trade. Known as the Cultural Capital of Gujarat, the city flourished under the Gaekwad rule, one of the larger Princely States of India during the British rule. It is also the home of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, the largest university in Gujarat. An important industrial, cultural and educational hub of western India, the city houses several institutions of national and regional importance while its major industries include petrochemicals, engineering, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, IT and foreign exchange services amongst others.

Vadodara and the adjoining region are home to various large-scale industries such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC), Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (IPCL, now owned by Reliance Industries Limited) and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL), which have come up in the vicinity of Gujarat Refinery and all of them are dependent on it for their fuel and feedstock. Other large-scale public sector units are Heavy Water Project, Gujarat Industries Power Company Limited (GIPCL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). In addition to these public sector enterprises, a number of other large-scale enterprises have come up in the private sector such as Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian company manufacturing coaches for Delhi Metro from its site in Savli along with other manufacturing companies such as Alstom, Areva, Mahindra, Apollo, Thermax, Siemens, etc. Vadodara is also taking big leaps in service industry along with these manufacturing companies. L&T has established "Knowledge City" at Waghodia. Recently MasterCard opened its tech hub at the city.

With Vadodara accounting for over 35 per cent of India's power transmission and distribution (T&D) equipment manufacturers and home to an estimated 800 ancillaries supporting the big players in Power Sector equipment manufacturing and engineering industry, Vadodara is the also the Power Equipment Manufacturing Hub of India.

Vadodara Chamber of Commerce & Industry has been shaping and projecting progressive SMEs, trades and industries based on coordination with Central, State, Local and Semi-Government authorities. In addition to over 3000 members and affiliation with prestigious bodies like CII, ASSOCHAM, GCCI, FIA, FICCI and many more, VCCI also enjoys the confidence and co-operation of more than 20 associations located in Gujarat.

In another development, for the first time VCCI has entered into a joint venture with K&D Communication Limited, the pioneers in business and international trade fairs, to showcase excellence achieved by the country in diverse fields especially trade and commerce. With this joint collaboration, Vibrant VCCI Global Trade Show 2016 aims to provide an unrivalled opportunity, best exposure and maximum business to small scale micro industries on a global scale through exhibitions and trade fairs.

Covering a wide range of industries, VCCI’s exhibition brings exponential change in the business arena, which compels visitors to return year after year. The exhibition contributes to the industrial progress at large by bringing the best of the industries to the capable partners to create new opportunities and strong network connections. It is a one-stop destination to meet people, share ideas for innovative business needs.

VCCI as an institution has always successfully endeavoured to fulfil the aspirations of all its member industries and has always harboured a vision for making Vadodara as the best business destination, sums up Nilesh Shukla, President VCCI and Chairman, VCCI 2016