Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her principal chief advisor Amit Mitra met representatives of 14 countries at Bengal Global Business Summit in a separate interactive session, where they discussed investment opportunities in Bengal.
Leading the foreign delegates was a team from the UK, which had representatives of 49 companies attending the summit. “All the companies are very keen on investing in Bengal. I have been told 17-18 companies are already in talks to invest or expand their operations in Bengal,” said Nicholas D Lowe, British High Commissioner in Kolkata.
A senior official representing the Japanese delegation said the business summit was taking place at an opportune time as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had visited India recently and had spoken about a slew of investment proposals. “We have a wonderful investment relation with Bengal. We have small and medium-sized enterprises, we have a Kawasaki warehouse in Singur and three Japanese entrepreneurs have been making e-rickshaws in Kolkata for five years. On the educational front, Visva-Bharati has a rising number of students for the Japanese language courses. We look to expand our investment opportunities here further,” said the official.
The Italian delegate spoke of how Bengal and several states in Italy were similar in characteristics. “We have a lot to do together in the MSME sector, special trading line, machinery technology and also tourism sector,” said the official. Mitra asked him to even see if state-to-state collaboration was possible, focusing on collaborations in the sectors of designing (automobile and gem and jewellery) and food processing.
Willy K Bett, ambassador of the Republic of Kenya in India, spoke of a collaboration in organizing worldclass marathon with participation from people around the world. On April 18, Bett, while attending a welcome ceremony at a hotel in Kolkata had said, “Kenya and India have had a long history of relationship in trade, tourism and investment. There are four main areas in Kenya for investors to take interest in — universal healthcare, housing, manufacturing sector—especially textiles and leather—and food security. Kenya has experience in wildlife management and is willing to invest in that in Bengal. The relationship with Bengal needs to grow as we have much in common. Kenya is ready for investments and collaboration.”
There were also representatives from the US, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Netherlands, Finland, Morocco, Bangladesh and Bhutan among other countries. The chief minister asked the South Korean representative to invest in electronics hub in the state and the New Zealand representative to join hands in promoting the dairy industry. “Representatives of KOTRA are already here, exploring the investment opportunities,” said the South Korean delegate. KOTRA is a state-funded trade and investment promotion organization operated by the South Korea government.
Leading the foreign delegates was a team from the UK, which had representatives of 49 companies attending the summit. “All the companies are very keen on investing in Bengal. I have been told 17-18 companies are already in talks to invest or expand their operations in Bengal,” said Nicholas D Lowe, British High Commissioner in Kolkata.
A senior official representing the Japanese delegation said the business summit was taking place at an opportune time as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had visited India recently and had spoken about a slew of investment proposals. “We have a wonderful investment relation with Bengal. We have small and medium-sized enterprises, we have a Kawasaki warehouse in Singur and three Japanese entrepreneurs have been making e-rickshaws in Kolkata for five years. On the educational front, Visva-Bharati has a rising number of students for the Japanese language courses. We look to expand our investment opportunities here further,” said the official.
The Italian delegate spoke of how Bengal and several states in Italy were similar in characteristics. “We have a lot to do together in the MSME sector, special trading line, machinery technology and also tourism sector,” said the official. Mitra asked him to even see if state-to-state collaboration was possible, focusing on collaborations in the sectors of designing (automobile and gem and jewellery) and food processing.
Willy K Bett, ambassador of the Republic of Kenya in India, spoke of a collaboration in organizing worldclass marathon with participation from people around the world. On April 18, Bett, while attending a welcome ceremony at a hotel in Kolkata had said, “Kenya and India have had a long history of relationship in trade, tourism and investment. There are four main areas in Kenya for investors to take interest in — universal healthcare, housing, manufacturing sector—especially textiles and leather—and food security. Kenya has experience in wildlife management and is willing to invest in that in Bengal. The relationship with Bengal needs to grow as we have much in common. Kenya is ready for investments and collaboration.”
There were also representatives from the US, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Netherlands, Finland, Morocco, Bangladesh and Bhutan among other countries. The chief minister asked the South Korean representative to invest in electronics hub in the state and the New Zealand representative to join hands in promoting the dairy industry. “Representatives of KOTRA are already here, exploring the investment opportunities,” said the South Korean delegate. KOTRA is a state-funded trade and investment promotion organization operated by the South Korea government.
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