What: The Honorable Parvathaneni Harish, consul general of India in Houston, Texas, will discuss “The Indian Economy: Opportunities for Business and Industry” during a University of Texas at El Paso Centennial Lecture.
When: 5 p.m. Monday, March 2
Where: UTEP’s Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 126
A representative from the world’s largest democracy, whose growing economy is buoyed by a burgeoning high-tech industry, will discuss that economy during The University of Texas at El Paso’s first Centennial Lecture of the spring semester.
The Honorable Parvathaneni Harish, consul general of India in Houston, Texas, will speak about “The Indian Economy: Opportunities for Business and Industry.”
Harish said he hopes to build business and academic partnerships between India and the American region that his consulate serves – Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska.
“We are also involved in organizing educational seminars/conferences aimed at creating greater awareness of India’s distinctive strengths as an academic partner, and expanding other business collaborations between India and the United States,” Harish said.
This is an opportunity to put UTEP on India’s radar, said Vivek Tandon, Ph.D., associate professor of civil engineering. Tandon, originally from India, earned his Master of Science degree at UTEP and has worked at the University since October 1994. He had suggested this visit to the consulate.
“India’s government and academic community is not aware of UTEP’s recent inclusion in the Top 10 ranking (among U.S. universities and colleges in Washington Monthly magazine) and commitment to produce the quality workforce needed for the 21st century global economy,” said Tandon, who plans to take Harish, a trained mechanical engineer, to visit the College of Engineering as well as other sites around campus. “This is our chance to show all the great things happening at UTEP and foster future educational and research collaboration.”
Tandon said this is a key time to introduce the University to India because the country of 1.2 billion people has a new prime minister, Narendra Modi, who took office in 2014 and is interested in building collaborations.
The University was involved in a student/teacher exchange program with the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur in 2008-10 to study highway and airport pavement engineering.
Harish joined the India Foreign Service in 1990 and has served in countries in Asia and the Middle East.
The University’s Centennial Lecture Series invites noteworthy speakers to the UTEP campus to share their perspectives on a broad range of contemporary issues that are likely to impact our society, culture and lives in the years ahead.
The March 2 lecture is co-sponsored by UTEP President Diana Natalicio and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, El Paso Branch.