Uttarakhand will organise an international meet of nearly 12-15 envoys of various countries next month to attract foreign investments in the hill state in sectors like tourism, health, industries, IT, education and others.
Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar held a meeting with top officials at the secretariat along with office-bearers of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU) to discuss the agenda for the proposed meet here where envoys of nearly 15 countries are expected to join the two-day conclave ‘Showcasing Uttarakhand – Land of Opportunities’, which begins from May 13.
Already, nearly 13 envoys from various countries like Sweden, Portugal, Singapore, Argentina and Indonesia have given their confirmation, IAU President Pankaj Gupta said.
After the industrialisation in the plains, the government now wants to shift focus on the hilly region where top-notch Indian companies have so far remained disinterested especially owing to the expiry of excise incentives last year which were available in the concessional industrial package. According to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the expiry of these incentives had badly affected investments to the tune of Rs 56,000 crore in the state.
“We want to showcase opportunities like tourism, health, education, agro and food processing, agro export zone, food processing parks, forest-based industries, micro hydel projects, IT parks and several other sectors. We from the IAU, jointly with the state government are taking this opportunity to showcase Uttarakhand and its unlimited advantages,” said Gupta.
The envoys will also be given a feel of the hill state and spend time to see institutions like Forest Research Institute (FRI) and pharma unit of IPCA Lab at Selaquie industrial area.