This fall, Ankur Munjal, India Country Director at Dezan Shira & Associates, travelled to Europe for a two-and-a-half-week intense multi-city business tour that deepened the firm’s engagement with partners, clients, and institutional stakeholders at a pivotal moment for Europe–India economic collaboration.
Alongside Riccardo Benussi, Partner at Dezan Shira & Associates, the team reconnected with core alliances and partners while engaging in substantive discussions with clients, prospects, service providers, trade organizations, among others.
The tour started on October 22 in Vienna with a meeting with Advantage Austria, before progressing to Germany, where they met with major institutions including IHK Nürnberg für Mittelfranken and the Munich Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ankur and Riccardo were also welcomed to speak about India at the Department of Labor and Economic Development at the city of Munich.
Italy represented an important stage of the tour, spanning Calenzano, Arezzo, Cesena, and Milan. Ankur led B2B engagements with Confindustria Toscana Sud and later, together with Riccardo, delivered speaking sessions at events organized by AICE (Associazione Italiana Commercio Estero) and by Bacciardi Law Firm in cooperation with Confartigianato Cesena.
The Italy leg concluded in Milan, at the India & Italy Business Meet, organized by the IICCI, Promos Italia, SDA Bocconi and the Milan Chamber of Commerce, and met with the Bocconi University Asia Center, an academic partner of our firm.
Paris marked the next stop of the trip, where Ankur and Riccardo held several meetings, notably with ETL GLOBAL Board members of which Riccardo is part, and Antoine de Riedmatten CEO of In Extenso, and Anne-Kathrin Steinröder, who heads the ETL GLOBAL Network. Another stop was marked by the meetup with a Mobile Workforce Collective (MWC) member firm focusing on global mobility topics. The journey then continued to Zurich, concluding with a productive meeting with the head of the India-Switzerland branch of Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE).
The final stage of the journey took place in Warsaw, starting with a meeting at the Embassy of India alongside Legally Smart, a firm with an established India Desk. There, the team met Mr. Mohan Dal, Commercial Counsellor and Head of Chancery (HoC), engaging in discussions on foreign direct investment into India from Poland and on how publications support decision makers in Poland when looking towards India and how Asia Briefing can support.
The next day, the team took part in the inauguration of the 6th edition of the PAIH (Polish Investment and Trade Agency) Business Forum, a full-day program where they joined multiple thematic sessions and networking rounds, continuing their engagement following last year’s participation.
During the forum, they engaged with the officials overseeing PAIH’s China and Vietnam missions and spoke with the newly appointed India representative about emerging opportunities and key priorities for Polish businesses seeking to expand into India.
Over the following days, the team engaged with a broad set of Asian-related entities as part of the forum – Including InvestHK, diplomatic mission representatives, and local Polish think tanks focused on Asian markets – while also carrying out final meetings with professional services firms and additional partners around Warsaw, bringing the trip to its close.
“Meeting with our partners across Europe gave real depth to the growing interest in India. In Vienna, Munich, Milan, Paris, and Warsaw, I didn’t just sense curiosity, I saw readiness. With TEPA now in force and momentum building around the India–EU FTA, European companies are actively looking for structured pathways into India. What stood out to me was the value of sitting with our partners, listening, and mapping out how we can support companies at every stage of their India journey. We stand ready to support that shift from intent to execution with clear, actionable guidance.” said Ankur, reflecting on the visit.
Summing up the importance of the tour, Riccardo remarked: “I cannot stress enough how the once perceived interest for India has been influencing my conversations in Europe and I am convinced that having Ankur over in Europe this year was of best timing. Every meeting was also a learning curve for us both, to have a more precise picture of how India is perceived, viewed and what is needed from our side to bring companies closer to implementing their strategies there.”
A Timely Visit as Bilateral Cooperation Accelerates
The Europe tour took place shortly after the India–EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) came into effect on October 1, 2025. The agreement is expected to significantly enhance investment flows in key sectors such as technology, R&D, clean energy, pharmaceuticals, and high-value manufacturing.
At the same time, negotiations for the long-awaited India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have gained significant momentum, with ongoing high-level exchanges aimed at concluding the deal by the end of the year. These developments shaped many of Ankur’s conversations, with European counterparts expressing strong interest in understanding how these frameworks will reshape market opportunities.
Strengthening the Europe–India Advisory Ecosystem
India ranks among Europe’s most significant trade partners outside the EU, and as global trade dynamics continue to shift, Europe is deepening its engagement with Asia to strengthen supply chain resilience and diversify investment routes.
Dezan Shira & Associates’ Munich office, established in 2021, plays a central role in this landscape by serving as a gateway for European companies expanding into Asia and providing multilingual expertise and strategic guidance throughout their internationalization journey.
Further Resources
To learn more about the growing opportunities in India’s business environment, please visit our Doing Business in India Online Portal and India Briefing, where you can find resources such as:
- Incentives for Doing Business in India 2025-26 [Portal]
- An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2025 [Publication]
