The Hindu Business Line : PIO body to emulate the Chinese model

THE Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (Gopio) proposes to do in India what the Chinese expatriates have carried out in their homeland with resounding success.

Speaking to reporters here, Dr Thomas Abraham, Chairman of the New York-based PIO organisation, said that Gopio would continue to build partnerships with India-based NGOs to understand the critical development needs where expatriates can extend a helping hand.

Dr Abraham announced that the Gopio Conference - 2005 will be held in Mumbai next month in conjunction with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas programme.

Gopio.Connect is a development assistance programme that aims to help accelerate NRI/PIO contribution to India's development and fulfil its 2020 vision of a developed country. It has identified eight critical areas in both urban and rural regions to align its activities through a developmental framework.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Radha Krishnan, President-Elect, National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), said that the 23 million Indian expatriates should learn from how 50 million Chinese expatriates managed to put in their collective might to power the homeland economy to be the third biggest globally.

Gopio was established in New York in 1989 with the former Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, as the chief patron. Human rights violations of ethnic Indians in Fiji, Sri Lanka and Guyana were its major areas of thrust during the initial years.

But in the 1990s, the focus changed with progressive globalisation and `economic boundaries' breaking down. It has since then offered a platform for expatriates to exchange ideas on issues of major concern and to formulate a collective response.

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