banner

Background

Background

The Quest, formerly known as the India China Alliance for Cooperation (ICAC) specialises in creating unique value programmes that promote educational, cultural, trade and economic exchange between India and partner countries. Mr. Piyush Bahl (late) founded ICAC, post his stint in Shanghai in 2003, where he was heading the Confederation of Indian Industry’s east Asia operations. He saw immense opportunity in the two giants of the sub-continent and given his excellent relationship with China’s provinces, he saw merit in setting up a formal body that could promote mutual interests. The Alliance was officially launched on 30th October, 2003 in New Delhi in the presence of Mr. A. K. Thakur, the then Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India and Mr. Hao Kang Li, Vice Mayor, Chengdu Municipal Government, Sichuan Province, The People’s Republic of China.

With strong linkages across mainland China and its different provinces, ICAC built friendly, apolitical bridges between the two nations developing strong relationships of trust in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang, Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province), Suzhou (Jiangsu Province), Ningbo Jinan, Qingdao, Shougang, Guangzhou and Kunming. With trusted partners on both sides, it was perfectly poised to give government and business delegations, students and cultural organisations a comprehensive experience of visiting China.

On the request of its partners and clients, ICAC has expanded its footprint to other nations while working closely with Private Sector Companies and Public Sector Undertakings/ State Owned Enterprises; Trade and Investment Promotion Bodies; Central, Provincial and Municipal Governments, Universities and institutes of higher education and research and other incubators to organise meaningful study tours, exposure visits, exchange programmes and specialised trainings in the domains of education and agriculture.

In 2017, ICAC successfully transitioned to “The Quest” which includes in its ambit not just programmes to China but to other countries like Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan in the Oriental part of the world and Israel, UK, USA and others in the Occidental world.