In the run-up to next year’s Invest Kerala Global Summit, to be held in Kochi on February 21-22, Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeeve on Friday met diplomats of various countries in Mumbai to urge them to send their countries' investors and entrepreneurs to the event.
The minister held talks with consuls-general Anita Kelly of Ireland and Le Quang Bien of Vietnam; the head of Taiwan's Taipei Economic Cultural Cente, Chun-Yu Chang, and Taiwanese deputy consul Shui Yung Chan.
In a roadshow held in the evening with industrialists and investors, Rajeeve highlighted the reforms carried out recently in Kerala’s industrial sector. He said entrepreneurs only needed a minute to obtain licences through the online K-Swift system. “Kerala has been portrayed as an anti-industry state, but that does not match with the reality anymore,” he said, nullifying a general perception of frequent labour strikes in the state. “The fact is that not a single factory has reported high-handed behaviour by trade unions in Kerala during the past four decades.”
Pointing out that some of the country’s flagship companies such as Cochin Shipyard and BPCL were located in Kerala, Rajeeve said that none of them has lost a single day owing to strikes.
The minister said that filing documents online will qualify for the various permissions to start businesses. “Such reforms have enabled Kerala to reach the top position at the national level in the industry-friendliness index."
“We have world-class companies manufacturing health equipment. Our key asset is an excellent workforce,” the Minister added. He urged the investment community and industry leaders to "make full use of these advantages”.
A team of top Kerala officials accompanied the minister to Mumbai in his bid to attract investments in Kerala. The roadshow was part of a series of conclaves the government has been holding in its build-up to the Invest Kerala Global Summit in Kochi on February 21 and 22. The conclave will showcase and focus on 22 priority areas that the government has identified in its New Industrial Policy. KSIDC had hosted similar road shows in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The next one in the series is in Delhi. Those abroad are in Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
