The QI Group began its association with the Commonwealth Business Forum organised in conjunction with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2007 in Kampala, Uganda. This year, the Group once again partnered with the Commonwealth Business Council, the forum organisers, to be the Principal Sponsor of the CBF 2009, which was held from 24-26 November 2009 in Trinidad & Tobago, at the Port of Spain, aboard the cruise ship ‘Serenade of the Seas’. This high-ranking international business summit focused on the theme ‘Partnering for a More Equitable and Sustainable Future: the Commonwealth and the Americas’ and provided a platform for new global economic partnership arrangements to promote trade and investment in key sectors across the Commonwealth, particularly the Americas.

During the opening ceremony of the CBF, the QI Group’s participation was prominently noted when Vijay Eswaran, Executive Chairman of the QI Group, presented Patrick Manning, the Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, with a 1924 CIMIER wrist watch which bore a gold insignia of the 2009 CHOGM. All other heads of state were also presented with a commemorative CHOGM watch under the QI Group’s luxury watch brand CIMIER, but Manning received the very first piece as the host leader for CHOGM.

As a successful business leader with his very own business empire based in Asia, Mr. Eswaran was invited on the first day of CBF, to be a panellist at an interactive session where he spoke on a subject close to his heart – Leadership, Inspiration, Vision and Entrepreneurship. He went on to speak on the second day of the event, at a plenary session themed ‘The Innovation Mantra: Technology – The Key to Growth and Development’, which explored the importance of going against the grain and finding opportunities in a crisis situation, in order to establish a successful business.

The QI Group also took the opportunity to build new ties in Trinidad & Tobago, through the signing of two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs. The first MoU, signed between the QI Group and eTeck, the investment promotion board of Trinidad and Tobago, will benefit QI Comm, the Group’s Telecommunication and Technology company based in the United Kingdom. The second MoU was signed between the QI Groups’ property management arm and the Tourism Development Corporation of Trinidad & Tobago.

For details about CHOGM and the outcome of CBF 2009, please visit the official website at www.cbcglobal.org. Download the QI-CBF 2009 Newsletter.