Hello, I am Shubhangi Agarwal from India. I am currently pursuing MBA from Sri Sri University, Cuttack. I was one of the few students chosen to be a part of AusIndia Bridge Foundation’s initiative in October and honestly, what a ride it has been! I got to interact and listen to community leaders such as Mr. Deepak Vinayak, the founder himself. This internship truly gave shape to me and my personality, and along with that so did the people. Not only did I get out of my shell of an introvert – I had the pleasure of doing so by working with amazing team members, led by an even more amazing team leader. Life lessons were learned along the way and I witnessed how a project is built from scratch. This initiative is meant to bring two leading countries together, a collaboration that builds trust, bond and brings endless opportunities for the growth of both. Somewhere along the way, my teamwork skills and my soft skills developed – this is what I realize now. The exposure was great for me as it allowed me to open up further and see things in life as a bigger picture. Although it might be termed as an internship meant to achieve some work-based objective, but to me it was a fun and meaningful experience. I’d like to thank Mr. Deepak Vinayak and Mr. Kamala Kanta Dash for giving me this wonderful opportunity that pushed me to grow and develop, and for giving me a chance to work for this marvellous initiative that is bound to be successful.
Blog for Work:
Hello, I am Shubhangi Agarwal – one of the interns of AusIndia Bridge Foundation’s first inaugural batch! One of the tasks assigned to us was to look into states of our choice and what collaboration could take place between said state, and Australia. My state of choice was West Bengal and I learnt so much about it in such a short span of time! West Bengal is the sixth largest state economy in India – it is majorly dependent upon agricultural activities, hosts heavy industries and is rich in minerals as well. There is scope in the horticulture and fishery industries as the state is placed along the coastline of Bay of Bengal. It has great connectivity in terms of roadways, railways, ports, and airports. When I went ahead to look at connections between West Bengal and Australia I came across these certain Australian companies that are established in West Bengal, mostly they are involved in the mining industry of the state in terms of equipment, consultancy, management systems etc. There is definitely a lot of scope for collaboration between Australia and West Bengal. I came across a statement from an article of 2018, “Bengal is a priority state and is definitely on our radar in the investment goal. We have not set state-specific targets. But I see no reason why Bengal should not be right at the top.”
“We are opening our consulate here. There is a big growing confidence in the environment here,” said by Rod Hilton, the Australian Deputy High Commissioner, in an interactive session. He added that in addition to opportunities in mining, education and infrastructure, there could be discussions with the state government on skilling and education programmes and where Australia can play its part in bringing technology and skill sets. Apart from the industries mentioned by the Honourable Deputy High Commissioner, other industries which can be the base of upcoming collaborations are: Petroleum and Petrochemicals, Agriculture and Allied Industries, Information Technology, Art & Culture, Biotechnology, etc. This is a great initiative taken by great leaders and I cannot wait to see how it folds out. Good luck to upcoming interns!