2013 Press Releases
Bibi Baskin to present to IIBA
Former television presenter and well-known Irish media personality Bibi Baskin is to speak at the IIBA (Ireland – India Business Association) Cork Chapter Christmas lunch this Friday 6 December at 1.30pm in the River Lee Hotel, Cork.
After Bibi left RTÉ at the end of the 1990’s, she spent some time in England, writing, and also developing an interest in ‘Ayurveda’, the traditional medicine of the Indian subcontinent. While on a visit to Kerala, the southern-most state in India, she discovered an old British colonial house, built in 1868 and owned by the Raheem family. Bibi took over the property and turned it into a ‘heritage hotel’, under the name Raheem Residency, winning many awards and accolades for the sensitive restoration.
Mr. Raheem and his family, who moved to the near-by city of Cochin are still regular guests. The property opened for business in 2003, with ten bedrooms, and also offering yoga and ayurvedic treatments. Bibi, always a very entertaining speaker, will give an engaging account of how she went about setting up her hotel in India, and talk about the important elements involved in running a business in India today. With the recent and very rapid economic growth of India, now poised to become one of the world’s super-powers, there has never been greater interest amongst the Irish business community in furthering links with India.
Already in the Cork region a significant number of companies, from indigenously owned enterprises to subsidiaries of overseas multi-national corporations, are trading directly with India. Tourism and education are also very important sectors that tie India and Cork. The IIBA Cork chapter was established at the beginning of this year (2013) to help promote further business links between Cork and the Indian subcontinent.
After two very successful net-working events earlier this year, bringing together both Irish and Indian entrepreneurs, government dignitaries, including the new Indian ambassador to Ireland, and a wide range of representatives from the areas of banking, education and the sciences, the Cork chapter will now host their first Christmas lunch.
The event begins with a mulled wine reception at 1.30p.m., to be accompanied by live classical India music. This will be followed by an Indian-infused Christmas lunch, after which Bibi Baskin will present.
Tickets at 20 euro (to cover mulled wine reception, formal lunch, live Indian music and Bibi’s talk) can be purchased directly online at http://t9.ie/iibacorkxmas or via corkchapter@iiba.ie.