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 Former Prime Minister of Belgium Yves Leterme has said that the collaboration between the European Union and India can elevate Indian unicorn and enhance digital competition.

He was addressing an international conclave on 'India-EU as strategic partners for the future of higher education' at Woxsen University in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

"The EU, India, and the US are the biggest democracies in the world. The new rising power India is a democracy that protects its values while addressing the global challenges and well-balanced multinational institutions and Sustainable Development Goals agenda and Woxsen is forging a generation of future that holds these principles,” he said.

He said that the first stage of EU-India cooperation is to collaborate and connect to promote good incentives and learn about each other.

“The connectivity partnership has decided to boost the collective efforts between the EU and India with transport as the number one priority – with some added value to invest in infrastructural links for transporting energy goods and water,” he said.

He said that the second priority is setting up an ecosystem for energy consumption.

“We need a lot of innovation and investment to use the resources efficiently. The third is the digital domain. We must join forces in the digital world because the EU needs natural resources in free market competition,” he said.

He said that EU and India cooperation can promote Indian unicorns and build more competition in the digital world using cutting-edge technology.

“The fourth domain is person-to-person cooperation, which is the importance of education exchange and tourism. We are demanding well-educated, skilled people from good management schools in India. India and the EU should deepen their cooperation in geopolitical terms as well. Together, we need to resolve issues. We must resume free trade, investment protection, and agreement on geopolitical issues,” he said.

Notable figures present at the conclave included G. V. Prasad, Co-Chairman and Managing Director of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Honorary Consul General of Belgium; Dr. Shankar S. Mantha, Former Chairman of AICTE; along with representatives from the US Consulate Hyderabad, the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Government of Telangana, the University of Hyderabad, IBS Hyderabad, NALSAR, NICMAR University, and IMT Hyderabad.

The primary objective of the International Conclave was to establish a dynamic platform to foster open and constructive dialogue among key stakeholders from the realms of diplomacy, higher education, and business.

G. V. Prasad said that what makes a country powerful is military strength, education, economic output, and cost competitiveness.

“The foundation of a solid educational and research system is still something that we must invest in. Our founding fathers institutionalised good technical institutes and universities,” he said.

He said that however beyond the public universities, it wasn't easy for the private sector to set up institutes like this and recreate the history of India with world-class facilities at low fee structure and cost-effectiveness.

Suman K. Mukherjee, Economist & Management Consultant; G.V. Prasad, Yves Leterme and Raul V. Rodriguez, Vice-President, Woxsen University also spoke at the plenary session on “Internationalization of Higher Education: Reflections on Present and the Road Ahead.”

Vishal Khurma, CEO, Woxsen University said that Woxsen offers students avenues for industry exposure and practical learning through high-tech labs and deep learning. This prepares them to be effective and diligent in the roles they take up as they enter the corporate world.