Having more than 25 years of experience across various industry segments, He has served ASSOCHAM as Director being in -charge of Punjab, H.P., Haryana and UT of Chandigarh for developing various trade activities for business partners from these regions. His 8 years experience with PHD Chambers of Commerce as Regional director, has helped business partners to connect and to diversify domestically and internationally from all across the sectors.
The hallmark of his career is that he has spearheaded number of profound initiatives which enabled the transformation of the regional business ecosystem. He has build up Networking with Government & Industry National & International, Strategic Planning, International Trade Relations, entrepreneurship Development, Training & Team Building, Sectorial Knowledge & Connections, Policy Monitoring & Advocacy and has Organized Trade fairs, Events, Seminars and Conferences to boost up business in his region.
Mr. Sharma has been associated with various National & State Committees (Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh) with respect to education, skill development, Industry, Power, infrastructure, taxation etc. and has effectively led teams for successful organization of Mega Trade Expos and events of repute in the region.
He is also Founding Director of Krishi Udyami Krishak Vikas Chamber, an organization dedicated to the cause of farmers in India.
He started his career in academics as an Assistant Professor in Dept of Political Science, Kurukshetra University. As an intellectual he has produced highly interdisciplinary and credible research on diverse issue spanning a wide range in foreign policy dynamics; International Relations; Political economy; National Security; Peace Building; Public Administration and Public Policy etc- are some of the areas in which he has presented and published peer reviewed papers and have been regularly invited by International Institutions of excellence globally for participation and presenting of his work.
Among his profound career breakthrough, he has been instrumental in establishing Balkan Indian Business Association in India. Balkan represents Eastern European countries. He has been credited with building deep linkages between India and Eastern Europe. He has worked closely with Governments- central and Federal, Embassies, Foreign Missions, National Institutions of eminence and Business Chambers, for promoting commercial interests of India. He had successfully engaged key stakeholders in building narrative for India in Eastern Europe. In pursuit of his mandate, he had led international business delegations to expand, strengthen and to diversify India’s commercial footprints globally.
Manipal Dhariwal is the Co-Founder and CEO of Netsmartz. He leads a team of over 1000+ professionals in 8 global locations to help customers re-imagine their businesses as a 21st Century Enterprise with technology at the core. As a result, Netsmartz has been ranked among the top 100 fastest growing companies in Rochester, New York.
From the last 20 years, Manipal is responsible for creating a footprint of excellence in the IT domain. In addition to founding multiple state award-winning IT companies like Netsmartz, Cloudsmartz, Sebiz InfoTech , CareSmartz and APPWorx, he supports a portfolio of more than 20 Startups globally.
He is the First Generation Serial Entrepreneur who is passionate about turning startups into scale-ups. He is responsible for contributing business investments to over 50 million dollars in Northern India, successfully created over 1500 direct jobs and around 3500 indirect jobs. He is the Founder & Chapter President of Startup Accelerator Chamber of Commerce (SACC), Advisor of TEDex Chandigarh, Chairman of IT & ITES Entrepreneurship/StartUp Committee (ASSOCHAM), Charter Member of TiE, Member of CII and Member of IACC. He is also involved in collaborating with other like-minded institutions to foster the Start-up culture in India.
In addition to being an avid golfer, his passion for philanthropy includes -
- Promoting Entrepreneurship - Social Causes & Campaigns
- Corporate Social Responsibility - Accelerating SMEs & Startups
- Improving Education Infrastructure - Giving back to Society
Puneet has contributed towards building ecosystems that create, nurture and sustain cycles of entrepreneurial activity and wealth creation, both at the regional and national levels. Puneet has demonstrated excellence in strategy, advocacy, relationship and environment management, international relations, thought leadership and operations.
Puneet has lead many lives and has been an entrepreneur in both India and US; an investor in business enterprises in India, US and Europe. He has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and in international marketing and business development in the high tech industry.
As a serial entrepreneur he founded 2 successful ventures in India and Silicon Valley. Puneet is actively involved as a board member and advisor with a number of companies. Puneet has been a past member of the Global Board of Trustees of TiE Global and President of TiE Chandigarh and Punjab.
Prior to starting his entrepreneurial career in 2000 he worked with Centigram Communications (acquired by ADC Communications) in worldwide product management, international marketing; and services marketing groups. In addition, he has worked with Measurex Corporation (now Honeywell) and U.S. Borax / RTZ in International marketing and business development.
Puneet has an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird – The American Graduate School of International Management and a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering.
Ms. Seema Kala is an International Business Strategist who has worked for Foreign Ministries (Trade & Tourism) based in India. An Executive Post Graduate in International Business Strategies from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi ,she has a vast 15 years of experience in various sectors like Life Sciences, Services, Constructions, Logistics & Machinery, Cleantech, Forestry, ICT and Tourism.
She is a Brand and Marketing Strategist who has helped “Malaysia Truly Asia” and “Imagine Your Korea” to establish their brand in India. To accelerate the growth, she has identified and selected the most potential partners (Business, Airlines, Media & Corporate) for Tourism Malaysia and Korea Tourism Joint Marketing.
In PCCI, she will be responsible to deal with the International tie ups and investment in Punjab. She will be promoting and identifying the business opportunities for Punjab in International market. She will be developing projects for our members to represent their expertise in various International Fairs, Events and Business Delegations visits. She will identify and organize various events to establish “Brand Punjab” Internationally
