Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) provided a platform to help Gujarat recover from the devastation brought on by the earthquake in 2001, the Godhra and post-Godhra violence in 2002, and the collapse of the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB), which plunged the state's cooperative banking sector into crisis. The Prime Minister noted that while the world has seen the success of the business summit, its journey began when the then Union government (UPA) showed "indifference" to Gujarat's development and threatened foreign investors not to invest in the state. The event was held to celebrate 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat summit's success.
In the same vein, the PM asserted that India is now poised to be a global growth engine and expressed confidence that the country will soon emerge as an “economic powerhouse of the world”.
“Gujarat faced a long period of famine before the earthquake. The collapse of MMCB caused an upheaval in 133 other cooperative banks. I was newly elected and had no experience in governance. The challenges were huge. Amidst this, one more event took place: the heartwrenching incident at Godhra. In the situation that followed, Gujarat burnt in the fire of violence,” said Modi.
He said his aim is to make India a global growth engine and expressed confidence that the country will soon emerge as an economic powerhouse of the world. Speaking at an event to mark 20 years of success of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Modi said they sowed small seeds of a “Vibrant Gujarat” 20 years ago, and today it has developed into a big tree.
Focus to be on Europe, Africa, Middle East
The Gujarat government has begun work on a plan to leverage international partnerships which were strengthened during India’s presidency of the G20 by focusing on Europe, Africa and the Middle East for the tenth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), which will be held in Gandhinagar from January 10 to 12, 2024.
The goals of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), the India-Israel-United Arab Emirates-United States of America (I2U2) forum, and the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 will all be strengthened through VGGS, according to state government officials.