The Hindu : Three top Central leaders coming for GIM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Three top Central leaders coming for GIM

By K.P.M. Basheer

KOCHI JAN. 6. Three Central leaders who matter most when it comes to Kerala's economic development as well as the top industrialist of the country will be coming for the Global Investor Meet (GIM) to be held in Kochi on January 18-19.

They are: the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee; the Disinvestment Minister, Arun Shourie, who also holds the charge of Union Ministries of Industry and Commerce, and, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K.C. Pant. The top industrialist leading a host of senior industrialists is Mukesh Ambani, the boss of the Reliance Group.

The Prime Minister, who will be visiting the State for the first time after his celebrated Kumarakom sojourn, during the 2001 New Year, will open the GIM. His visit to the State this time will be brief as he will be rushing back to Delhi after the GIM inauguration.

Still, the State Government leadership is pinning a lot of hopes on the Prime Minister's visit, because he has got a lot of promises to keep. Promises given to Kerala, in his `Kumarakom Package,'. The Government leaders intend to politely remind the Prime Minister of his promises and to get his backing for the initiative for attracting industrialists to Kerala. The GIM is being held to showcase Kerala as an investment-friendly State and is an attempt to cast off Kerala's age-old image of the `killing fields of industries'.

Arun Shourie, with three industry-related Ministries under his belt, will be stepping into Kerala for the first time in his avatar as Disinvestment-Industry-Commerce Minister. He, along with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K.C. Pant, will be addressing the GIM on the concluding day and interacting with industrialists and prospective investors.

Mukesh Ambani's presence will be of crucial importance to the

GIM because investors are known for playing safe and for following in the footsteps of the leader. The Reliance Group, which already has ongoing projects in Kerala, has lately shown keen interest in the State.

Those coming from abroad to look up Kerala's investment scene include the Malaysian Minister, Sami Vellu, who will be heading a team of businessmen from his country. The United Arab Emirates Minister, Sheikh Rekad bin Salem Al Rekad, will be visiting with his entourage of industrialists and Government officials. The Mauritius Government will also be sending a delegation.

The international consultancy firm hired by the Kerala Government, Pricewaters Coopers, has been able to source promoters for the projects to be showcased at the GIM from several countries, including the U.S., Australia, Singapore and some Gulf countries. The organisers claim that some 200 entrepreneurs from abroad and 300 from inside India would converge on Kochi for the investor summit. Non-Resident Indians, especially Non-Resident Keralites, would be in the focus.

The success or otherwise of the GIM will be a major component of the he report card of the Antony Government. Over a year back, the Chief Minister had sought to herald a `New Kerala' and promised to bring in an investment of Rs. 50,000 crores in five years. The GIM has been projected as the harbinger of prosperity.

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