Goa will remain preferred destination for global investors, says CM Sawant

Goa will remain a preferred destination for global investors across all sectors, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday.

"We will remain a success story in the country and a preferred destination for global investors across all the sectors," he said at the Invest Goa 2024 summit here.

The chief minister also said that the coastal state has benefitted from the support of the central government.

"Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, India is now the fastest growing economy in the world. Goa has benefitted considerably due to the support of (central) government and state government," he said.

He further said that his government has "given maximum attention for upgradation of skills of our young workforce through constant academia, industry dialogue and the newly launched apprentice scheme".

Former Union minister Suresh Prabhu in his address said that Goa can become a hub of research and development considering a robust presence of pharma industries in the state.

He said that the state can utilise the infrastructure of Goa Medical College and Hospital and work in the field of genomics and build an ecosystem around that.

Prabhu also suggested that the coastal state can be a hub for financial services including offshore banking.

"If we work on these ideas, the employment part (the issue of unemployment) can be addressed," Prabhu said.

State Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho who was also present on the occasion, said the locales of Goa can be one of the logistical hubs, therefore you need more warehousing, that is why we introduced the policy.

"We look at environment-friendly industry which will generate economic activity, which will generate income for industrialists so that they expand their company," he added.

The minister said that Goa wants industrialists to be partner in its growth.

"Goa is the only place where you can do business with pleasure. While doing business you can relax in the evening. You will feel like working more," he said.

Goa-IDC Chairman Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said that the state has developed investment friendly regulations.

Lourenco said that there is a trend of looking at Goa as a tourist destination, which needs to be taken further with the introduction of investor-friendly industry policies.

Addressing the participants, Goa-IDC MD Pravimal Abhishek said that objective of the summit is to set the narrative right as far as Goa is concerned.

He said that investors should look at Goa because the state is a strategic location with "great infrastructure".

The state has accorded industry status to manufacturing, IT and ITes, logistic and warehousing units, which will help these sectors to get the benefit of the government policies.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of CII, said that the industry body will open a first-of-its-kind regional culinary institute in Goa to popularise Indian regional cuisine, which has tremendous potential across the globe.

He said that the institute will train thousands of youths in the coming years.

The summit was organised by Goa Industrial Development Corporation (Goa-IDC), Goa Investment Promotion Board (Goa-IPB) with CII as its national partner.

During the summit, the Goa IDC launched "Goa-IDC Regulations 2023 Manual" and also Goa-IPB website, which aims at providing "ease of doing business" for the investors.