Kerala’s Investment Outreach Gains Momentum at Davos

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala made a strong presence as a highly promising investment destination at the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, imparting an added momentum to the Invest Kerala Global Summit scheduled in Kochi on February 21 and 22.

The state received wide applause from both the global and Indian delegates at WEF for successfully pushing policies that balanced economic growth with social advancements.

Industries Minister P Rajeeve, who led the high-level Kerala delegation to the big-ticket event, had over 70 one-to-one meetings with business leaders,brightening the state’s investment prospects in multiple sectors.The members of the state delegation also shared Kerala’s experience at four panel discussions at WEF.

This is for the first time that Kerala had a pavilion as part of the India Pavilion at the WEF, along with five other states.

The Invest Kerala pavilion set up as part of the India Pavilion at WEF,featuring the theme “We are changing the nature of business,”drew a steady stream of visitors from day one, many of whom expressed keen interest in attending the Invest Kerala Global Summit.

Business leaders whom Rajeeve met included Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, Chief Executive and Managing Director, Greenko; B K Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group; Anjali Gupta, Head (Marketing) and Aman Mehra (Head – Strategy), Sify; Pradeep Parameshwaran, Uber CEO; Neelesh Tungar, President, Bharat Forge and CEO, Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd; Hari S Bhartia, Founder and Co-Chairman Jubilant Bhartia Group; R Dinesh, Executive Chairman, TVS Logistics; Dr Bharat Kaushal, Managing Director, Hitachi India; Anand Chordia, Founder, Suhana Spices; and leadership of HCL and Infosys.

The Invest Kerala pavilion was also visited by delegations from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Switzerland.

“Kerala made a strong presence at WEF. We showcased our upfront policy initiatives and structural reforms undertaken in key areas to transform the state into a highly promising investment destination. We could also remove some of those prejudices and presumptions that came in way of the state’s industrial development,” Rajeeve said.

Even while presenting the state’s core strengths as a highly promising investment destination, Kerala made a strong pitch for pursuing development goals in a sustainable and inclusive manner.

The Chief Ministers from other states appreciated the way we changed the script and went on to become the top ranker in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) among the Indian states, he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu, for instance, termed Kerala as the “best Indian state”.While addressing a joint session, he said “Really, Kerala is the best state, the most progressive state. People (of Kerala) are settling all over the world. FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is going to Kerala maximum. They (the Keralites) are patriotic,” were his words.

The industrial promotion model being pursued by the state, which places emphasis on responsible and inclusive practices, was greatly appreciated by the participants from around the world as it encapsulated the ideal of sustaining economic and social growth in a world confronted with grim challenges including the consequences of climate change.

The members of the Kerala delegation, speaking at panel sessions, also delineated the state’s transition into a knowledge economy and the shift it made in governance through digitisation of processes and procedures.

In a panel discussion on ‘The Digital Dividend’, organised jointly by CII and KPMG, Rajeeve said Kerala government made a transformative step by providing internet access to the people as their basic right.

The state also put across the message that it offers big investment opportunities in diverse sectors as a fast-growing global hub of technology-driven enterprises side-by-side the established domains like tourism, medical care and technology, food, spices and marine products processing, apart from having India’s best startup ecosystem.

The resounding success of the Year of Enterprises initiative which has yielded nearly four lakh MSMEs within a short span of 3 years and unlocked the entrepreneurial spirit down to the local community level was also featured.

The Kerala delegation also included Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Dr A Jayathilak, Principal Secretary Industries APM Mohammed Hanish, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) MD S Harikishore and KSIDC Executive Director Hari Krishnan R.

CII Kerala Chapter President Vinod Manjila was also present during the one-on-one meetings which were facilitated by CII.