53rd Convocation of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade held in Delhi

Aug 13,2019

The 53rd Convocation of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was held on August 8 at the institute's campus in New Delhi.

In an impressive ceremony, the Chief Guest, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Commerce Secretary and Chairman, IIFT, Dr Anup Wadhawan, awarded the Degrees to graduating students of the class of 2018.

Degrees were conferred for PhDs, Full Time MBA, Weekend MBA programmes, EPGDIB and CPEIM courses. Distinguished members from Board of Management of IIFT, faculty members of IIFT and other dignitaries were present during the function.

In his Convocation Address, Shri Puri focussed on the commendable growth that Indian economy has witnessed since last few decades with the GDP touching a commendable figure of 2.8 trillion USD which has brought India to a level playing field with major economies of USA and China.

Considering the contribution of external sector to the tune of approx. 50 per cent in this economic growth, he emphasized on the growing importance of the specialised institutes like IIFT. He appreciated the strong contribution of IIFT's research-based consultancy and corporate trainings and hoped that it would contribute towards attaining the target of India being a 5 trillion USD economy by 2024, growing further to 10 trillion USD by 2030. Congratulating graduating students and wishing them the very best for their future, the Minister exhorted them to be lifelong learners. He advised them to keep abreast of
the latest developments in Foreign (/topic/foreign) Trade (/topic/trade).

Minister, Commerce Secretary and Chairman, IIFT, Dr Anup Wadhawan complemented IIFT's placements and role of globally placed Alumni to take the institute to global heights which has only been possible due to its rigorous teaching pedagogy and unique courses including foreign languages. He also acknowledged strong role of IIFT towards the support extended in policy making through its newly established centre of Centre for Trade Facilitation and Logistics (CTFL) as well as Centre for WTO Studies, Centre for Research in Trade (CRT), Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) and Centre for NE Studies (Ce-NEST) at IIFT Kolkata. He also promised continued Government support to the institute for its upcoming campus at Maidan Garhi.

"IIFT has been a landmark institution that is not only a leading B-school in India but also a major think tank of the country, a widely recognised Centre for Human Resource Development and also as a hub for research in International Trade (/topic/trade) and Finance. In the last few years, IIFT has produced over 10,000 professionals and trained more than 40,000 people in various aspects of international business and trade".