InCar Group Press Room

IBLF Ambassadorship for InCar director

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:10:00 +0000

Per April 1, 2010 Anand Ramkisoensing, Managing Director of Suriname based InCar Trust, has been appointed as Ambassador for the Caribbean for the International Business Linkage Forum (IBLF) for an initial term of two years.

IBLF is a global business platform for governments and companies to do business. IBLF aims to create a global business network that will facilitate its members to kick start new business ventures. IBLF relies on Quality rather than Quantity and follows the principle of Business through Friendship and Friendship through Business. It is in short a tool for businessmen to do business efficiently, effectively, exclusively, enterprisingly and economically; the five “E’s” of IBLF business principles.

The International Business Linkage Forum was established in 2003 with its first annual convention in Beijing, China. Subsequent conventions were held in Mumbai (India), Dubai (UAE), New Delhi (India), Zug (Zwitserland) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The seventh convention will be held in cooperation with the Government of Western Australia in Perth (Australia) on August 2-3.

More information on IBLF can be found at: www.iblforum.com.

InCar Group attends Commonwealth Business Forum 2009

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:29:00 +0000

InCar Group attended the Commonwealth Business Forum, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad from November 23 to 26, as sole delegates from Suriname. The 2009 Commonwealth Business Forum was held as part of the 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad & Tobago and attracted over 1,000 business and government leaders from over 50 countries.

The Forum promotes practices and policies for the enhancement of global trade and investment. It provides new opportunities for business networking and partnerships, drawing on the Commonwealth’s comparative advantage in areas such as services, information and communications technology, banking and financial services, manufacturing, agriculture and natural resources.

The Commonwealth Business Forum 2009 was opened by Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning and included speakers such as: HE Kamalesh Sharma (Commonwealth Secretary General), Prof. Joseph E. Stiglitz (2001 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics), Rt. Hon. Mohd Najib Abdul Razak (Prime Minister of Malaysia), Mr Rahul Bajaj (Chairman Bajaj Auto), The Hon Tillman Thomas (Prime Minister, Grenada), Michael Mansoor (Chairman, First Caribbean Bank), Suhas Gopinath (Chief Executive Officer, Globals Inc.), Chandrajit Banerjee (Director General, CII), Vijay Eswaran (Executive Chairman & CEO , QI Ltd), Amb Luis Fernando Andrade Falla (Secretary General, Association of Caribbean States) and The Rt. Hon. Hubert Alexander Ingraham (Prime Minister, The Bahamas).

InCar Group attends India Calling 2009

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:33:00 +0000

InCar Group attended the India Calling 2009 conference in Brussels, Belgium. Organised by the Indian Merchant's Chamber, the European Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Belgo-Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The aim of the conference is to build all-round strategic business partnership between India & the EU and to project India and the EU as attractive investment destinations with unlimited trade and business opportunities.

About 300 businessmen, entrepreneurs as well as government officials from the European Union and India met in Brussels for three days (Sept 30-Oct 2) to debate and discuss how to expand and boost trade and commercial ties between the two sides. The conference was inaugurated by the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vaylar Ravi and Belgian Foreign Minister Yves Leterme. Speakers at the conference includeg Belgian Economic Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, well-know diamond merchant Baron Dilip Mehta, chairman of Janssen Pharmaceutica Baron Ajit Shetty, Member of European Parliament Nirj Deva and many others.

InCar Group assisted on behalf of Indian Merchant's Chamber to attract Dutch delegates and speakers for the conference.

InCar Group featured in United Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:58:00 +0000

Paramaribo, Suriname 26/09/2009 - InCar Group and its Suriname partner SRA have been featured in Suriname business magazine United. In a four page article the partners tell about their cooperation for the Wyndham Garden Paramaribo project and the advantages their further partnership has brought them.

United is published twice yearly and is distributed in Suriname, The Netherlands and Aruba.

InCar Group attends Global India Business Meeting 2009

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:59:00 +0000

InCar Group attended, as only delegate from Suriname, the inaugural Global India Business Meeting that was held in Munich, 28-29 June 2009. Organised by Horasis, the co-hosts were the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the State of Bavaria, with Messe München International and VBW (the Bavarian Business Association). The Global India Business Meeting aims to be the foremost annual gathering of Indian business leaders and their global counterparts. The event was open to Chief Executive Officers of the world's leading companies. The event was intellectually supported by a set of partner firms led by the Strategic Foresight Group, Mumbai.

Anand Sharma, the new Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, represented the Indian government at the meeting, where participants gathered to deliberate under the theme 'Overcoming the Crisis - Opportunities for India'.

The meeting was held at a critical time, coming less then a month after the formation of the new Indian government. The meeting facilitated dialogue that allowed participants to fully explore the unique opportunities that India has at its doorstep in this new global arena.

Public Figures who attended included Chhagan Bhujbal, Deputy Chief Minister, State of Maharashtra, India; Neena Gill, President, European Parliament Delegation for Relations with India, Belgium; Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD, Switzerland; Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of India; Arun Shourie, Former Minister of Disinvestment, Communication and Information Technology, India; N.K. Singh, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of Bihar, India; B. S. Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister, State of Karnataka, India; Martin Zeil, Deputy Prime Minister, Free State of Bavaria, Germany.

In attendance were, among others: Prince Abdullah bin Mosa'ad, Chairman, Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co (Saudi Arabia), Peter Bauer, CEO, Infineon (Germany), Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto (India), Claude Beglé, Chairman, Swiss Post (Switzerland), Pramod Bhasin, CEO, Genpact (India), Gerhard Cromme, Chairman, Siemens and ThyssenKrupp (Germany), Jim Goodnight, CEO, SAS (USA), Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys (India), Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman, Hasbro (USA), Prakash Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Group (Switzerland), Baba Kalyani, Chairman, Bharat Forge (India), Liu Jiren, Chairman, Neusoft (China), Khater Massaad, CEO, RAK Investment Authority (UAE), Nasser Munjee, Chairman, Development Credit Bank (India), G V Krishna Reddy, Chairman, GVK Power & Infrastructure (India), Dhruv M. Sawhney, Chairman, Triveni Engineering & Industries (India), Harshpati Singhania, Managing Director, JK Paper (India)

InCar Group delegation attends 6th IBLF

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:35:00 +0000

InCar Group and two associates attended the exclusive 6th International Business Linkage Forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa June 18 and 19. The event was hosted in cooperation with the South African Department of Trade & Industry.

Previous fora were held in China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with over 80 global business leaders having attended the IBLF session in Zug, Switzerland. The IBLF is a platform for government and business to deliberate and discuss international business opportunities.

The Forum's longevity lies in the strengths of the participants, whose knowledge of investment markets and networking expertise & resources ensure the continuation of a successful business partnership. The IBLF includes business leaders from different parts of the world, namely Australia, Austria, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Canada, China, Ivory Coast, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Kenya, Nepal, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Togo, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States of America.

The IBLF provides a platform to encourage the purchase and sale of goods, investment, identification of joint venture partners and the sharing of sectoral trade advice between member nations. Policy papers and presentations on the Resources, Hospitality & Tourism and Energy sectors were presented by South African and international experts.

InCar Trust facilitates financing Wyndham Garden Paramaribo

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Paramaribo, Suriname (31/03/2009) - On March 31, 2009 InCar Group has successfully concluded the financing for its client CityGroup N.V. with the signing of the financing agreement by its client and the lenders. Headed by AIB Bank an international consortium, including local institutions Hakrinbank and Fatum Suriname, provided a financing of US$ 10 million for the development of CityGroup's luxury hotel situated on the Domineestraat in the heart of Paramaribo.

The project is the largest private investment in the tourist sector in Suriname and has a total value of over US$24 million. The hotel will open in March 2010 and will be part of the Wyndham Garden chain. The hotel will be the third international chain in Suriname after Best Western and Courtyard by Marriott.

“The involvement of foreign institutions has been very important to realise the financing due to the size of the loan. Due to InCar Group it has been possible to attract financing from abroad, despite the current problems on the international markets, and to affiliate ourselves with Wyndham”, says Oemar Chiragally, CEO of CityGroup N.V. “This important investment in the tourism sector of our country will play an important part in attracting new groups of tourists to Suriname, in particular from America. It will also provide an impuls for further development of the city centre to make it even more attractive for tourists and locals”.

“It is always very special to come to a new country and experience the first financing we do as AIB”, says Herry Koolman, Assistant Managing Director of AIB Bank. “We have worked very well with InCar Group and have also received tremendous support from SRA during this process. Suriname has an unbelievable position with regard to tourism and a tremendous future in the industry”.

“It is not always easy to attract financing for large projects in Suriname”, explains Anand Ramkisoensing, managing director of InCar Trust, the Suriname part of InCar Group. “The vision of Mr Chiragally, the way the project was set up and the strength of the business plan made it easy not only to convince our banking partners to finance this fantastic project, but also to have the hotel be part of the Wyndham Garden franchise”.

The financing was provided based on the business plan made by SRA Business Solutions N.V., sister company of accountants SRA N.V. “For a project of this size it was necessary to attract the majority of the debt from abroad”, says Sonny Sheoratan, managing director van SRA Business Solutions. “The strict requirements of the financial institutions and the current economic situation made it necessary to present a very extensive and detailed business plan. The completeness of our plan had a positive effect and lead to the financing under very positive terms”.

The Wyndham Garden Paramaribo Hotel will have two full service restaurants, a rooftop bar and pool, lobby lounge, spa and fitness centre, business centre and conference facilities. The complex on the Domineestraat also houses a casino and a 20 unit shopping mall. The hotel will target the high end market, particularly business travellers and eco tourists.

InCar Trust facilitates Wyndham franchise

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:49:00 +0000

Paramaribo, Suriname (19/12/2008) - InCar Trust has successfully facilitated the Wyndham Garden franchise agreement for its Suriname client CityGroup. In March 2010 the Wyndham Garden Paramaribo will open in the centre of the Suriname capital.

The choice was made for Wyndham after a review of various international hotel chains. "Wyndham is a strong brand in the Caribbean and by being affiliated with such a renowned company we will be able to attract more North American tourists to Suriname and thus have a positive effect on the Suriname economy", says Oemar Chiragally, CEO of CityGroup. "The assistance InCar Group provided to bring Wyndham to Suriname was invaluable".

"The growing tourism sector and the increasing numbers of tourist made Wyndham Garden an ideal choice for CityGroup", explains Anand Ramkisoensing, managing director of InCar Trust. "We are proud that we have been able to convince Wyndham to enter the Suriname market".

Wyndham Hotel Group, one of three principal components of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, encompasses nearly 7,000 hotels representing approximately 583,000 rooms in 67 countries on six continents under the Wyndham^®, Ramada^®, Days Inn^®, Super 8^®, Wingate^® by Wyndham, Baymont Inn & Suites^®, Microtel Inns and Suites^®, Hawthorn Suites^®, Howard Johnson^®, Travelodge^®, Knights Inn^® and AmeriHost Inn^® brands.

InCar Group enters into strategic alliance with Suriname accountancy firm SRA

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:26:00 +0000

Paramaribo, Suriname (1/4/2008) - InCar Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Paramaribo based accounting and business consulting firm SRA N.V. for the development of new business and joint execution of projects.

"This strategic alliance merges the complementary core competencies of both organisations as well as our local and international networks", states Anand Ramkisoensing, Managing Director of InCar Trust, InCar Group's Suriname company. "By joining forces we will be able to offer exisiting and new services to a wider range of clients both in Suriname as well as abroad".

SRA N.V. has offered its accountancy and business consultancy services to the Suriname public and private sector since 2005.

Aruban PM signs MOU with Emcure

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:32:00 +0000

Pune, December 13 - The Indian visit of H.E. Prime Minister Nelson Oduber of Aruba, facilitated in part by InCar Consultancy and its partner Dinesh N. Joshi, has shown its first tangible success.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 13th December, 2007 by and between The Government of Aruba, represented by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Mr. Nelson O. Oduber and Hon’ble Health Minister, Drs. Candelario A. S. D. Wever and Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited; represented by Managing Director, Mr. Satish Mehta and Executive Director, Mr. A. K. Khanna.

As per the MOU, Emcure will work hand in hand with The Government of Aruba towards making available niche medicines (Chiral molecules, Nephrology Products and Biotech Products) at affordable prices to benefit the population of Aruba.

Further, Emcure will share its expertise in training the Medical fraternity in Aruba for use of above mentioned products including use of Elaxim (Clot busting agent) and extend its support to formulate Chiral molecules in Aruba.

Aruba is just the beginning; Emcure will also explore the possibility of using Aruba as a base for exploring business opportunities in Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Aruba: Gateway to Caribbean and Latin America, Invites Indian Businessmen, Tourists

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:47:00 +0000

Mumbai (12/12/2007) - Mr. Nelson Oduber, Prime Minister of the island nation of Aruba, an autonomous state in the Kingdom of Netherlands, has invited Indian businessmen, investors and tourists to his country.

Mr. Oduber addressed an interactive meeting organised in his honour at Hotel Hilton Towers, Mumbai by the Indian Merchants' Chamber on December 12. The Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Hans Ramaker, introduced Mr. Oduber and other Ministers and officials of his delegation.

Welcoming the distinguished guests, IMC President Mr. Niraj Bajaj complimented Prime Minister Mr. Oduber for leading his country to prosperity in the past 18 years of his office. “With a per capita income of over $28,000, the nation of Aruba has few parallels in the world,” he said.

Prime Minister Mr. Oduber said that the population of Aruba – a 70 sq. mile island – was around 60,000 in 1986 and had now risen to well over 120,000. “Our tiny country with its beautiful beaches attracts over two million tourists annually,” he said.

Mr Oduber said that he aimed to make his country “Dubai of the Caribbean and Gateway of Latin America.”

As such, the 19.6 mile long, 6 mile wide island nation had built three major ports, an international airport which could take large aircraft and exclusive airport for private aircrafts, a free trade zone, top class educational, healthcare and hotel facilities and all such modern infrastructure.

Mr. Oduber invited Indian businessmen to set up bases in the Free Trade Zone of his country, add value to their products and re-export them to the US, Latin American and European countries.

Mr. Oduber said his country had its own central banking system, Parliamentary form of governance and an independent judiciary. Aruban island nation, situated off the coast of Venezuela in South America, was engaged in its coastal waters for offshore drilling for oil and was hopeful of finding rich deposits as in Venezuela and Columbia.

Though the backbone of Aruban economy was tourism, it was also a major base for refining and exporting oil. In addition, Aruba also exported huge quantity of coffee, rice, sugar and whiskey to Europe and other western countries.

The invitation by IMC President Bajaj to visit Mumbai was presented to H.E. the Prime Minister in June by Mr Dinesh N. Joshi, Vice-Chairman of the IMC Infrastructure Committee and Indian partner of InCar Group.

Aruba delegation in New Delhi

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:25:00 +0000

The Indian visit of H.E. Prime Minister Nelson Oduber of Aruba, facilitated in part by InCar Consultancy and its partner Dinesh N. Joshi, commenced in New Delhi. The Aruban delegation presented to a select group of business leaders and journalists what the island has to offer Indian companies. The presentation garnered substantial media attention:

Aruba offers to act as India's trade link to LatAm

(Financial Express) New Delhi, December 10 - The tiny south Caribbean island territory, Aruba has offered itself to be the base for India's trade links with Latin American countries.

Aruba also invited Indian airlines to set up their bases in Aruba and gain in terms of easy connectivity to Latin American countries.

With a population of around 100,000, Aruba has per capita income of $22,000. Aruba is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Netherlands.

The wave of economic liberalization and growth is literally sweeping across the globe and Aruba is no exception. The visiting Prime Minister of Aruba, Nelson Oduber today showcased the potential of his island territory and invited Indian businessmen to invest.

Speaking at a luncheon meet, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here on Monday, Oduber said, "Aruba can act as India's hub and gateway to Latin America and provide logistics for transport services We are ready to provide traffic right to Indian airlines."

Highlighting the strategic location of the island nation, Oduber invited Indian airline Companies to set up base in Aruba and gain in terms of easy connectivity to Latin American countries. "The airline industry in India is growing exponentially. It is expected that the Indian Companies will place big orders for aircraft next year. Aruba has a well-developed financial system and mature institutions. Apart from providing a strategic hub to Indian airline Companies, we can also take care of their financial needs," he said.

He also offered Indian Companies certificate of origin on safeguard tariffs. He said, "Aruba has free trade zones which offer ideal business climate. Businessmen can also save as we tax only 2% of the profit."

Making a strong pitch for high-value, low-volume industries like pharmaceuticals and information technology, Oduber said. "Companies from these sectors can capitalize from Aruba's strategic location and sound logistic infrastructure."

The Aruba Prime Minister also invited tourists from India. He said his country has 8,000 hotel rooms with tourist inflow of around 1,000,000 per year. The small island nation offers a wealth of natural resources and scintillating landscape.

Aruba offers Indian cos easier access to US, EU

(Economic Times) New Delhi, 10 December - Aruba, an island in the Caribbean sea with access to the European Union and US markets, today said it could act as a logistics centre for Indian companies looking to tap those regions.

"We want to make Aruba a logistics centre for the Indian companies. We have the necessary infrastructure and an agreement for duty free movement of goods to the US and the EU markets," Aruba's Prime Minister Nelson Oduber told reporters here.

Citing an example, he said Aruba imports sugar and ethanol from Brazil, adds value to the products and moves them duty free to the US and the EU.

"We are in contact with many Indian companies from the sectors of infrastructure, energy, pharmaceutical, information technology and aviation," he revealed but refused to divulge their names.

Oduber said he would meet businessmen from the aviation industry tomorrow in Mumbai.

The Prime Minister invited corporate India to set up shop in the country's upcoming Free Zone. "If you register in the Free Zone, you would be liable to pay only two per cent tax on profits and zero import duty," he said.

Also, the country is expected to float an open tender next year for exploring its natural resources such as oil and gas, in which it is expecting the Indian industry to participate.

Innovative building system introduced to Dutch Antillean housing corporations

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:48:00 +0000

Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (28/11/2007) - InCar Consultancy has introduced their Suriname client Vasco Profiles and their innovative steel frame housing system to the national housing corporations of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles during a meeting of their association Caneye that was held on the island of Bonaire.

The steel frame building system offers housing corporations enormous benefits when constructing large scale housing projects when compared to traditional building methods. The main benefits are lower maintenance costs due to the use of steel roofing and siding, the construction is certified hurricane proof and the houses can be completed much faster.

The representatives of the housing corporations were shown two types of model homes that have been constructed in Bonaire.

Satish Singh (1958-2007)

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:42:00 +0000

InCar Group has unexpectedly lost its founding partner Satish Singh. Born in Guyana in 1958 as son of an Indian diplomat, he grew up in Suriname. After attaining his degree in tax law in The Netherlands Satish Singh worked for prestigious companies such as Arther Anderson and Coopers & Lybrand in The Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and Venezuela.

Returning to Suriname in 2000 he laid the foundation for InCar Trust in 2003 and InCar Consultancy in 2005.

InCar Consultancy facilitates India visit Aruban Premier

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:53:00 +0000

The Hague (25/06/2007) – The Honorable Prime Minister of Aruba, H.E. Nelson O. Oduber, has been invited to visit India with a trade delegation later this year by the Indian Merchant’s Chamber, the premier chamber of commerce based in Mumbai.

Presenting the Prime minister in The Hague with the invitation of IMC president Niraj Bajaj was InCar Consultancy's Indian partner Mr Dinesh N. Joshi, Managing Director of SatyaGiri Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Vice-Chairman of the IMC Infrastructure Committee.

“Aruba has a lot to offer Indian businesses, in particular in facilitating trade with the Americas”, said Mr Joshi. “The IMC looks forward to presenting India’s premier companies the opportunity to learn more about the island and its unique qualities as a hub for both North and South America.”

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for the invitation and looked forward to visiting India. “India is an example to all countries, even a small one such as ours. The way India has developed in the last decades is truly spectacular. We hope to learn from India’s experiences and strengthen the ties between our countries”.

Aruba wishes to promote itself not only as a hub for cargo and trade with the Americas but also as a location for manufacturing and assembly, in particular of pharmaceuticals. The Aruba Free Zone offers various incentives, among which a low taxation rate of 2%, as well as duty free access to both the USA and EU through the American Caribbean Basin Initiative and EU treaties concerning overseas territories of member states. As a major Caribbean tourist destination Aruba would also like to attract visitors and investment from India.

The invitation of the Aruban Prime Minister was facilitated by Amsterdam based InCar Consultancy. The trade delegation, scheduled for mid October, will also be coordinated in part by Mr Dinesh N. Joshi.

CEO InCar Group meets with Aruban Prime-Minister

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:30:00 +0000

(24/04/2007) Oranjestad, Aruba — InCar Group CEO Satish Singh met with Aruban Prime-Minister Nelson Oduber today to discuss the opportunities for Aruba to act as hub for India in South America and to strengthen business ties with Suriname.

Aruba is ideally placed to be a hub for Indian companies seeking access to North and South American markets. Aruba's status as autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands further allows for no and low duty access to the European Union for products produced in Aruba and the same applies for the United States through the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). Manufacturing and assembly of products, but also offering services, can be done from the Aruba Free Zone, with companies paying only 2% tax on their net profits of Aruban activities.

Also discussed were the possibilities in Suriname with regards to tourism and natural resources and the opportunities to invest in large projects that could benefit both countries. As a result of increased interest of Indian conglomerates such as Reliance Industries for the natural resources of Suriname and its neighbours as well as the expected increase in Foreign Direct Investment, Aruba could become the hub for flights between India and South America, both for passengers and cargo.

Prime-Minister Oduber and Mr Singh hope that with the meeting the future business ties between Suriname, India and Aruba will be strengthened.

InCar Trust helps Dutch volunteer organisation Nature Projects

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 13:40:00 +0000

(Paramaribo 30/07/2006) InCar Trust, Suriname's independent trust company, has assisted the Dutch volunteer organisation Nature Projects in forming relationships with local organisations and identifying projects for which Nature Projects can provide volunteers.

"As trust company we feel it is important to play a part in securing the natural wealth of Suriname, not only the financial wealth of local investors", explains Satish Singh, Managing Director of InCar Trust. "When we were approached by Nature Projects to assist them in organising their activities in Suriname, we gladly accepted. Suriname is a natural treasure that can be enjoyed by the world, but local organisations need help in assuring that our wealth is kept intact. A dedicated organisation such as Nature Projects can help provide the expertise and manpower that is required to ensure that the environment we live in remains as it should".

Nature Projects was founded in January 2003 by Steven van de Vijver, Alex Klusman and Jasper van den Driest, who had a strong urge to personally contribute to the preservation of endangered nature. Nature Projects wants to give everyone who feels this same urge, concrete possibilities to make a personal contribution to nature.

The goal is to support local initiatives in the area of the preservation of nature in various ways. This support consists mainly of delivering manpower and, where possible, the necessary materials and expertise to carry out projects. The way in which Nature Projects tries to realise its goal is by bringing volunteers in touch with international activities directed at the preservation of nature.

Another more indirect but equally important goal of Nature Projects, through close cooperation with local aid programmes/organisations, is to create a mutual understanding and respect in order to lay the basis for lasting and continuous development.

"InCar Trust has been instrumental is expanding our contacts in Suriname and allowing us to achieve a tremendous amount in a very short time", says Ilia Riaskoff, representative of Nature Projects and in charge of organising the Suriname activities. "In the three weeks I have been in Suriname I have been able to see many parts of this beautiful country and a lot of projects that Nature Projects can assist. For myself personally it has been a great and rewarding experience".

Nature projects can be contacted by emaill: mailto:info@natureprojects.org or by telephone: +31 6 17652333 (Steven van de Vijver).

InCar Group brings Suriname developed remittance system to India

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:05:00 +0000

(Amsterdam 20/07/2006) InCar Group, the the Netherlands and Suriname based services group, will as agent promote the Electronic Postal Exchange (EPW), developed by the Suriname postal and financial transactions company Surpost N.V., in India. The system will be presented to banks that have a large branch network in India as well as branched in countries with large NRI populations.

"Remittances by expatriate nationals to their countries of origin account for larger and larger flows of capital around the world", says Carlo Godlieb, Managing Director of Surpost. "A substantial part of this capital is moved through the informal sector of underground banking, the other part through traditional banks and organisations such as Western Union, often at substantial cost to the remitter. Our system provides a fast and cheap alternative".

The innovative system was developed in Suriname and was recently presented to the Dutch and Suriname public. With more than 100 million euros remitted from The Netherlands to Suriname, the need for a cheaper alternative to Western Union and a safer alternative to underground banking was high. This market has also been an ideal testing ground for the system, which has been set up with Interpay, the Netherlands company that handles more than three billion payment transaction per year.

The EPW system works as follows:

The recipient of funds buys a dedicated numbered bank card that will act as electronic wallet. The person that wishes to transfer the funds deposits the money on the bank account of the service provider and notes the card number of the recipient on the transfer form. This can be done using internet and telephone banking, cash deposit at the bank or paper transfer form. The transfer is done in real time and the recipient can use his card to withdraw all or part of the transferred money at ATMs or other cash points such as shops or banks.

All transfers are registered in a central system that can report to the Central Bank or regulatory bodies thus making the flow of capital transparent.

"We are proud as a Suriname based organisation to be able to promote this innovative product to the Indian financial world", says Anand D. Ramkisoensing, director of InCar Consultancy. "In Europe the cost of transferring money via this system is 50% lower than Western Union and MoneyGram. We feel that it is ideal for the Indian market as India is one of the top receivers of remittances. Also, many recipients might not have bank accounts. As the EPW card also acts as electronic wallet it can give users more options. The system can also be very effective within India since transfering funds within the Indian is also oftentimes slow and difficult".

The EPW system is fully developed and can be integrated with existing banking systems.

InCar Group to promote Aruban Free Zones in India

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:38:00 +0000

(Amsterdam 19/07/2006) InCar Group, the Netherlands and Suriname based services group, has entered into a partnership with Ruben Oduber, Mediator for the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Aruba, to promote the Aruban Free Zones in India and to offer additional sales and marketing services to Indian companies that wish to utilise the free zones.

Aruba offers companies in the free zone a range of incentives to start activities in the island:

2% profit tax rate on export activities
No duties on goods imported and exported through the free zone
Service companies (excluding financial services) are welcome to operate from the free zone
Retail sales allowed to tourists
Secure free zone environment (24 hour security service)
Special access to US markets (CBI) and European markets (OCT)
Very attractive rental rates for space in the free zone
Exemption from payment on the foreign exchange commission
Possibility to sell goods to the local market
Goods do not have to physically go through Aruba
Very swift clearing of imported goods
Minimal official documentation requirements for re-export
Excellent and very good shipping and airline connections
Modern harbour and airport facilities
Multi-lingual and educated workforce

"Aruba offers Indian companies the opportunity to have a sales and production hub that allows for easy and low or no duty access to the American, South American and European markets as well as a low tax environment", says Benjamin Bremmer, director of Amsterdam based InCar Consultancy Ltd. "With international competition heating up it is important for Indian companies to open new markets. From Aruba important large markets such as Brazil and Venzuela can be targeted and served, but as Caribbean territory of the Netherlands Aruba also has preferential low and no duty access to the vast American and European Union markets".

InCar Group can assist Indian companies in setting up their operations in Aruba, be they sales offices or production facilities. For companies that do not wish to have their own office in the island, InCar Group can act as sales and marketing agent whilst giving companies all the advantages of routing their sales through the Free Zones.

Aruba is an island of 77 square miles (193 square km) in the Southeast Caribbean, located approximately 19 miles (30 km) north of Venezuela and at the center of many world trade routes. The island has a modern port capable of handling very large ships. The main harbour, which is located in the capital of the island, Oranjestad, can accommodate large cruise ships and has a fully automated cargo container terminal. Services as United States Customs Pre-clearance, INS and Department of Agriculture are available at the airport, making it unique in the region.

As a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba has complete autonomy over its internal affairs. The Kingdom retains responsibility for defence matters, foreign affairs and the judicial system on Aruba.

InCar Trust enters Suriname realty market

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 08:40:00 +0000

(Paramaribo 01/03/2006) Indo-Caribbean Trust Authority N.V. (“InCar Trust”), Suriname’s independent trust company, has entered the Suriname realty market by establishing real estate broker N.V. De Landelaar in partnership with local entrepreneur Gregory Simson.

“In recent years Suriname has seen an increased demand for housing, both for locals as well as for our Netherlands based countrymen who wish to spend part of the year here in their pension years or have otherwise decided to move back to their mother country”, says Satish Singh, managing director of InCar Trust in Paramaribo. “The realty market, however, has been unorganised with properties often being offered on the market by various parties. This has generally led to a situation whereby the asking price of the properties keeps rising because there are too many intermediaries trying to take commission”.

N.V. De Landelaar offers its services at fixed commissions in a transparent way so both buyers and sellers of properties and plots have a clear picture of what the costs are. “We feel that the Suriname market now demands an organised realty sector. The establishment of N.V. De Landelaar is our step in the further professionalising of the sector”, explains Gregory Simson. “Not only by using transparent commission structures, but also by utilising the latest technology such as websites, we want to make an important decision as buying or selling a property in Suriname an experience similar to that in Europe or America”.

N.V. De Landelaar mediates for buyers and sellers of residential and commercial properties, as well as plots in and outside of Paramaribo. Property owners wishing to let their properties can also avail themselves of the services of N.V. De Landelaar. An additional range of services is offered to new residents of Suriname.

InCar Group partners with Haribhakti Group

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 19:01:00 +0000

(Amsterdam 28/11/2005) InCar Group, the Netherlands and Suriname based services group, has entered into a partnership with Haribhakti Group (“Haribhakti”) of

India

for the development of new business opportunities.

InCar and Haribhakti agree to co-operate in the broadest sense in jointly developing business in India, The Netherlands and the Caribbean. InCar will be the principle party in developing or generating new business or business contacts in The Netherlands and the Caribbean, whereas Haribhakti will do the same in respect to India.

“We are proud to be able to build a strong relationship with such an esteemed company such as Haribhakti Group”, says Anand D. Ramkisoensing, director of Amsterdam based InCar Consultancy Ltd. “Through our partnership with Haribhakti Group we can make the India entry of European and Caribbean companies easier and more efficient, as well as provide a complete range of corporate services to our international clients. Haribhakti Group in turn can offer its clients the opportunity to enter the Dutch and Caribbean markets with more ease”.

Based in Mumbai, the Haribhakti Group was established in 1951 and has a presence in fifteen cities in India. The Group consists of:

Haribhakti & Co., an ISO 9001:2000 certified Chartered Accountancy firm.

Moores Rowland Consulting Pvt. Ltd. (MRCPL) for providing services in the areas of Information Technology. Today MRCPL houses Information Systems Risk Management Services (ISRM) division of the Group.

Haribhakti MRI Corporate Services Pvt. Ltd. (HMRI), the Corporate Advisory Services Division of the Haribhakti Group which is associated with the US$ 1.6 billion Moores Rowland International (MRI) group.

Haribhakti Group is currently among the most reputed companies and ranked among the top 10 firms in India.

InCar Trust and Sares Invest organise seminar

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 19:36:00 +0000

(Paramaribo 08/11/2005) InCar Trust, Suriname’s independent trust company, and its asset management partner Sares Invest will organise an investment seminar to be held in the Torarica Hotel in Paramaribo on the 15^th of November, 2005.

During the seminar Iep Owel and Robin Bonnerjee, the Amsterdam directors of Sares Invest, will give various presentations, among others about the asset allocation of successful private investors such as Warren Buffer and institutions such as Yale and Harvard. The investment strategy of Sares Invest will also be discussed and explained. Suriname investors, both private and institutional will have the chance to discuss their ideas with the Sares Invest experts.

“As a company we feel it is important to educate both clients and the general public about investing in general and investing in funds in particular”, says Robin Bonnerjee. “For many people investing in something other than a saving account is taking a step into the unknown. Many people have misconceptions about the risks and the potential rewards of investing or about the services an asset manager can offer and the costs that are incurred”. The directors of Sares Invest visit Suriname regularly to meet with clients and prospective clients as part of their personalised service and desire to educate the markets they operate in.

Sares Invest has offices in Amsterdam, Zurich and Vienna. The combined assets under management exceed €1 billion/US$1.2 billion. Sares Invest is regulated by and registered at the AFM (Dutch regulators) and the FMA (Austrian regulators).

InCar Consultancy to offer services from Europe

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:15:00 +0000

(Amsterdam 11/04/2005) To provide services to European and Asian clients, InCar Trust, Suriname’s independent trust company, has taken the initiative to establish Indo-Caribbean Consultancy Ltd. (“InCar Consultancy”). Both organisations will be part of the InCar Group.

InCar Consultancy specialises in helping businesses understand the Indian and Caribbean business cultures and apply that knowledge to making informed decisions and influencing senior people.

“Many businesses have tried to enter the Indian or Caribbean markets but have failed. This is not because they lack experience or have bad products, but often because of difficulties in communication and cultural misunderstandings”, says Anand D. Ramkisoensing, managing director of InCar Consultancy. “We recognise companies run the risk of wasting their precious time and investment if they do not take account of the diverse business cultures they meet. With our help managers can actually do more: they are better intercultural communicators, they can negotiate more effectively, and they can run multicultural teams more successfully”.

InCar Consultancy also acts as a sounding board for new business in these two dynamic economies. It can active look for interesting opportunities for its clients or assist clients in making informed choices about the possibilities. “Entering a foreign market can be very frustrating if you do not know on which doors to knock”, explains Anand D. Ramkisoensing. “Whilst pursuing the opportunities, InCar Consultancy can assist its clients by liaising with local governmental agencies, finding the right local legal representation, accountants, etcetera, as well as local business partners. We can offer businesses some peace of mind and assurance that their entry strategy will be smooth”.

InCar Consultancy recognises that each client and each problem has its own challenges and issues. Its solutions are therefore tailored to its clients’ specific circumstances, drawing on the deep cultural and industry insights of our consultants. InCar Consultancy’s relationships with clients are characterised by respect, flexibility and collaboration.

InCar Consultancy is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from where it services its European clients. The office in Suriname and representative in Trinidad offer our services to the Caribbean market, whereas the Bombay representative services India.

InCar Trust partners with Sares Invest

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 19:16:00 +0000

(Paramaribo 16/02/2005) Indo-Caribbean Trust Authority N.V. (“InCar Trust”), Suriname’s only independent trust company, has entered into an agreement with Austrian investment management company Sares Invest A.G. to offer its services to the Suriname and wider Caribbean market.

“In recent years the Suriname and Caribbean investors have looked for a wider range of investment opportunities and services than local banks and financial institutions can offer”, says Satish Singh, Managing Director of InCar Trust. “By teaming up with Sares Invest we will be able to provide access to the worlds best investment funds”.

“Sares Invest offers a transparent and independent global selection of the best performing hedge funds, equity funds and bond funds, based on a system of quantitative and qualitative analysis of thousands of funds in terms of performance and risk. Sares Invest does not offer individual stocks or bonds but aims to build on proven track records of experienced and successful professional money managers”, explains Robin Bonnerjee, Executive Partner of the Amsterdam office. “We base ‘best performing’ on analysis of performance (measured by risk and return) of these funds since inception and past 5,4,3,2 and 1 year(s). We identify the best performing not only based on return but also in terms of risk, by identifying good performing funds that have a low standard deviation. Using the above tough selection criteria only a couple of hundred funds qualify”.

Besides access to the best funds, Sares Invest further offers clients low and transparent fees. Whereas banks or many other asset managers often charge 1-3% yearly management fee and/or a 20-30% yearly performance fee, Sares Invest simply charges a flat management fee of 0.125% per quarter (0.5% per year) and no performance fee.

“It is important to us that the client is put first and benefits right from the beginning”, says Robin Bonnerjee. “The client should also have the feeling that his capital is managed for him and not for the profit of the asset manager”.

In addition Sares Invest has negotiated transaction costs with several banks down to 0.15-0.20% per transaction. This saving is fully passed on to clients, so they enjoy extremely low transaction costs. In other words Sares Invest does not benefit from doing transactions. The bank custody fees have also been negotiated down to at maximum a yearly 0.02% to 0.05% of assets under management.

“We are proud to be able to offer Suriname and Caribbean investors, be they private or institutional, the opportunity to profit from the experience and expertise of Sares Invest”, says Satish Singh. “Robin and his team will also come to Suriname on a regular basis to meet with clients and potential clients, but also to give seminars. Sares Invest will also join us in writing bi-weekly articles to further educate the Suriname public on global investment opportunities”.

InCar Trust receives Central Bank approval

noreply@blogger.com (InCar Group Press Room) — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 20:47:00 +0000

(Paramaribo 01/06/2004) The fifth and only independent Suriname trust company, Indo-Caribbean Trust Authority N.V. (“InCar Trust”) has received approval from the Central Bank of

Suriname

(“CBvS”) to operate as a non-credit institution trust and financial services company.

By operating as a non-credit institution InCar Trust is not required by Suriname law to be under supervision of the CBvS with regard to its daily operations. “Nevertheless, we will welcome the opportunity in the near future to become a full service non-banking credit institution”, says Satish Singh, managing director of InCar Trust. “As a financial company we value the supervision of the Central Bank as a strong regulatory body is key to the longevity of the Suriname financial sector. Once it is possible for InCar Trust to fall under supervision of CBvS we will gladly do so”.

InCar Trust at present will primarily offer financial services in the broadest sense. Her clients will include local institutional and private investors, local and foreign companies and the Suriname government. InCar Trust plans to offer her clients excellent advice and information about international investment opportunities, never losing sight of financial integrity. InCar Trust will also facilitate financing and fund management.

Besides her role as local advisor en facilitator, InCar Trust shall offer services to foreign clients looking to do business in Suriname. “We aim to be a one stop shop for foreign investors and businessmen looking to come to Suriname. By being a trusted local partner that has good relations with the local government and business community, we can make entry into the Suriname market a more enjoyable one”, explains Anand D. Ramkisoensing, commercial director.

InCar Trust is headquartered in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname.