Mumbai:
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will kick-off the second leg of the domestic roadshow for the forthcoming global investor summit 'Emerging Kerala Global Connect' in the financial capital on Monday.
The three-day summit, an opportunity for business leaders, investors and policymakers, is scheduled from September 12-14 in Kochi.
The second day of the roadshow will involve Mr Chandy, along with his Industries and IT minister PK Kunhalikutty, state Finance Minister KM Mani and senior bureaucrats holding an interactive session, in partnership with CII and Nasscom, with India Inc on May 15 and presenting them a raft of potentials and opportunities for making investments in Kerala.
The session will also see leading entrepreneurs from the state such as BK Patodia of GTN Textiles, Sanjaya Mariwala of Kancor Ingredients and Navas Meeran of the Eastern Group share their success stories with India Inc.
The meeting is part of a string of domestic and international roadshows, business meets and conclaves the government has planned in the run-up to the Emerging Kerala summit.
"The goal of this branding exercise is to catalyse growth through enabling policies and to facilitate an environment for business development. We need to highlight the fact that Kerala is an investor-friendly destination with the potential to become an economic powerhouse of the country," Industry Secretary and KSIDC Managing Director Alkesh Sharma said.
"Kerala offers many advantages as a destination, including positive socio-economic indicators, high literacy rate, skilled manpower, top-class infrastructure and excellent domestic and international transport connectivity," he added.
The first leg of the domestic roadshow was held on April 20 in Delhi when state officials met top business leaders and diplomats, signalling the launch of a six-month-long build-up to one of the biggest investment branding exercises the state has ever undertaken.
Top on the agenda of the state is easing regulatory procedures for doing business in Kerala. Various government departments are preparing project reports across 26 sectors, which would be showcased at the summit.
"The summit signals the state's growing desire for productive engagement with businesses and investors around the world. We are looking to establish bilateral trade with markets, including the East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe," Sharma said.
The Chandy government has already finalised a number of big-ticket projects for which it is seeking domestic and foreign investments. Some of these projects include - the high-speed rail corridor connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore, a mono rail in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi-Palakkad National Investment & Manufacturing Zone, Kochi metro and Kannur international airport.