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Blue chip British companies at Kerala
investor's meet
Renowned
companies like Rolls Royce, BMT and Balfour Beatty will be part of
the British delegation that will make presentations at the
three-day Emerging Kerala (EK) investor meet to be inaugurated by
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here Wednesday. »
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Kochi: Projecting an
industry-friendly face, Kerala Wednesday showcased untapped
business opportunities at an investors summit, which the Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said would help in building a favourable
climate of entrepreneurship and unleash the latent potential of
the state.
Flagging off the "Emerging Kerala 2012" investment meet, the prime
minister said Kerala in many ways is unique among Indian states.
Its social and human development indicators are at par with many
developed countries. It has abundant natural resources. Its human
resources are of a very high quality.
"These strengths, along with the chief minister's commitment to
give a clean, transparent and effective administration to the
people, should be leveraged and leveraged optimally to attract
investment into the state. I am sure that initiatives like the
present one would help in building a climate favourable to
entrepreneurship in this process."
Economists and industrialists say the famed Kerala model of
development with emphasis on social indicators is no longer
sustainable without large investments. Union labour ministry data
show that the state's unemployment rate of 9.9 percent is much
higher than the national average of 3.8 percent.
The prime minister said his government would help in building an
improved industrial infrastructure in the state and asked the
state to pursue an inclusive and sustainable development.
"Labour-intensive light manufacturing has a strong comparative
advantage in this state and all assistance needs to be given to
the small and micro business enterprises. I would urge the state
government to derive maximum possible benefit from initiatives of
the central government especially the National Skill Development
Mission. This would go a long way in tapping the energies of
Kerala's educated manpower," he said.
The prime minister described the more than two million
non-resident Keralites (NRKs) who contribute more than 22 per cent
of the gross domestic product of the state as the backbone of the
state's economy.
The government is expecting huge investments from the NRKs, who
reportedly have parked Rs.484 billion as on March 31, 2012 in the
state's banks alone. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has promised to
give priority to the projects proposed by the NRKs, who have huge
exposure to global business and technology.
At the meet, the government will be showcasing more than 100
projects, including a dozen mega projects. Chandy said all the
investment proposals emerging at the meet would be cleared in a
transparent manner, without taking short-cuts on any critical
issues such as the environment.
"I assure you that the government would support, hand hold and
provide speedy clearances to all such proposals that are
people-friendly, environment-friendly, which contribute to
Kerala's growth and complies with the law of the land.
The chief minister was referring to the disconnect with the Left
opposition which has been critical of the event. The leader of
opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan, did not attend it after the Left
Democratic Front (LDF) decided to boycott the event because many
of the projects that were put up as proposals, it said, were not
in tune with the interests of the state and were meant to benefit
the investors only.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony said controversies should not come in
the way of the state's economic development and even the
opposition's "reasonable and logical" views would be taken into
account to forward the development agenda.
"Nowadays, there seems to be an unending debate on all issues. At
times, it (such debates) is good and at other times, it is harmful
for the interests of the state... Debates and controversies should
not come in the way of speedy economic development," said Antony,
who was earlier the state's chief minister.
The inauguration of the meet also faced protests from
environmental groups. "This 'Emerging Kerala' programme will spoil
the environment, the rivers, seas and the land. The state would
just end up losing its natural wealth," said Charles John, an
activist.
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