“India is now ready for business as never before,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he inaugurated the ninth edition of Vibrant Gujarat in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Addressing the inaugural event of the summit, he highlighted that India has moved up Global Ranking of World Bank's Doing Business Report by 65 places and the country is in its best form as far as business is confirmed. He said, “Major financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF have expressed confidence in India's economic journey. We are focused on removing the barriers which were preventing us from achieving our full potential.”
Modi also listed a host of initiatives taken by his government for attracting investments and improving ease of doing business. He elaborated on the financial development in the country, and said, “Those who visit India regularly would have felt a change in the air. The change is both in terms of direction and intensity. Over the last four years, the focus of my government has been to reduce government and enhance governance. We have also made Doing Business cheaper. The historic implementation of GST and other measures of simplification of taxes have reduced transaction costs and made processes efficient.”
“The mantra of my Government has been Reform, Perform, Transform and further Perform,” Modi said. NaMo spoke extensively on Foreign Direct Investment.
The Vibrant Gujarat summit, conceptualised in 2003 by Modi, who was then chief minister of the state, with an aim to re-establish Gujarat as a preferred investment destination within India. The summit, which was held in the Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre in Gandhinagar, from January 18 to 20, saw over 42,000 national and international delegates in attendance, along with five heads of states from Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Denmark, Czech Republic and Malta, and leaders of several industries in attendance. The Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade Show was held on a 2,00,000 square metres plot of land situated in Gandhinagar, which continued till January 22.
Five Heads of States who graced the occasion were the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev along with the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen; Czech Republic, Andrej Babis & Malta, Dr Joseph Muscat. One of the highlights of the summit was a special message by the Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu via video-conferencing who said, “Gujarat symbolises the powerful connection between our two people. Together we're building limitless possibilities for the future.”
Major events held during the three-day meet included a round-table interaction with the heads of global funds, ‘Africa Day’, MSME convention, Roundtable for Opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education & Research. In addition, Exhibition on Futuristic Technologies and Space Exploration, Seminar on Port Led Development and Strategies to establish India as the Trans-shipment Hub of Asia and On Make in India to showcase the Success Stories of Make in India, and key interventions by the government were organized.
28,360 MoUs signed; to generate 21,00,000 jobs
As the summit closed on the 20th, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said 28,360 Memorandums of Understanding were signed during the Summit this year. He also said the event is expected to generate over 21,00,000 jobs. He however, did not specify the amount of investment that would come into the state by way of the MoUs. Rupani said the event had seen the realisation of Modi's vision as “several big-ticket investments placed and committed, which will bring in jobs.” “Gujarat has become the gateway to the world and it has become an ideal platform for everyone. The summit has also become a platform for social uplift rather than only for business and trade. On Tuesday, Rupani said that £11.1 billion worth projects will be launched by 31, March 2019.
In his address after the closing of the summit, Rupani said the state has become a preferred investment destination after 2003 when Modi as the state CM decided to organise Vibrant Gujarat every two years. “Not many business houses participated in the first summit in 2003. Modi's vision has been fully realised in this 9th summit. This event has also become an ideal platform for knowledge sharing and networking.”
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel addressed the media and said out of the total MoUs signed, the maximum number of 21,889 were connected to the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. He informed that 408 MoUs were signed in agro and food processing, 548 in power and gas, 1,516 in urban development, 977 in mineral-based projects, 197 in engineering and auto and the remaining in other sectors. Patel also said the MoUs would generate 21,00,000 jobs in Gujarat, refusing to reveal the quantum of investment they would attract. “The figures for investment are not that important. We are still calculating it. But the important thing is these MoUs would lead to employment generation and boost economic activity.”
Vibrant celebrates Africa Day
For the first time since the inception of Vibrant Gujarat, a day was dedicated to an entire continent, in what could be termed as taking the first step towards boosting India's relations with Africa. Speaking at the summit on Africa Day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, “We are determined to anchor our partnership on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit. We take pride in our model of cooperation with Africa which is demand-driven, consultative, participative, involves local resources, builds capacity and is based on Africa's own prioritisation of its needs.”
Africa has emerged as an important trade and investment partner of India. Bilateral trade between the countries has stood at USD 62.66 billion for 2017-18, reflecting an increase of nearly 22 pc over the previous year. India is the third largest export destination in Africa, and the Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme (DFTP), announced by India for least developed countries, has benefited 28 African nations. Swaraj noted, “The recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area, is yet another opportunity that woos trade and economic ties with Africa, with the positive effects of democratic dividend and the African continent has become one of the fastest growing regions in the world.”
“Currently, 189 projects in 42 African countries, for nearly 11.4 billion USD are being implemented under Indian embassies,” Swaraj said. India is the fifth largest investor in Africa with community investments of 54 billion dollars with Indians investing in telecommunication, hydrocarbon, exploration, education, petroleum refining, retail, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, minerals, infra, information technology among other sectors.
