As part of the run up to its flagship investment summit - Vibrant Gujarat 2015, the Gujarat government today came calling to the industry of Assam and North-East, inviting it to avail the benefits and opportunities of the global platform and forge collaborations and tie-ups with companies from outside the region.
A high-level delegation from Gujarat, headed by state's health and family welfare minister, Nitinbhai Patel, today interacted with industry people and businessmen from Assam and region asking them to explore the business opportunities which the Vibrant Gujarat 2015 would provide.
The meet was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which partners the Vibrant Gujarat event.
"Vibrant Gujarat is not just about investing in Gujarat. Assam's businessmen need not set up industry in Gujarat but you can take the opportunity of the event to forge tie-ups and collaborations with Gujarati companies and set up plants here in North-East. We will have a separate platform for such interactions in our Vibrant Gujarat 2015 summit," said Patel.
Patel said this was the first time since 2003 that a delegation from Gujarat was visiting Assam and North-East as part of the run-up to Vibrant Gujarat summit. Patel also invited Assam's industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi to attend the event.
Patel also said that as Gujarat grows, the state would need skilled workers and Assam could help the state meet this demand.
The industry of the region asked the visiting minister to work to create a institutional mechanism for long term partnership between the two states. "Let it not be a onetime affair. It's true that we could not catch up with Gujarat or rest of the country in the journey of development but partnership with Gujarat, especially in the field of business and industry, can help us benefit a lot. We would request the Gujarat government to talk to the Assam government and create some institutional mechanism through which the partnership between the two states could continue forever," said RS Joshi, chairman of Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), the apex trade and industry body of the region.
Vibrant Gujarat, a biennial event, is a high-level multi-stakeholder gathering, acknowledged globally as the premier forum for discussion and action on emerging opportunities in Gujarat and India. The 2015 summit, to be held from January 11 to 13, would bring together leading national and international business leaders, economists, policy makers, investment bankers, multilateral institutions, academicians and thought leaders from across the world, said Patel. The Vibrant Gujarat 2015 will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who initiated and created this biennial event in 2003.
This event is partnered by eight countries - the USA, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore, South Africa and the Netherlands. Vibrant Gujarat is the only business event organised by a state government in the country that is partnered by the leading developed nations of the world.
