Gujarat govt claims 66% success ratio for past seven VGGS summits

About 15 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have confirmed participation for eighth edition

Ahead of the eighth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017 that begins on January 10, the state government claimed a 66% success ratio for the past seven editions.

According to J N Singh, chief secretary, Government of Gujarat, so far 51,738 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) or investment intentions were signed, from the first edition in 2003 to the latest seventh edition in 2015. 

“Of these, about 34,234 projects have either been completed or under implementation, putting the success ratio of the investment MoUs at about 66%,” said Singh while addressing media persons here on Saturday.

On the lines of the previous edition, the eighth edition too will see a Global CEO Conclave being held during the summit where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with CEOs of top global and Indian firms. The government is expecting 25-30 such CEOs and head of overseas multinational firms as well as similar number of CEOs and head of top Indian firms to participate.

“We have so far received confirmation from 15 such CEOs of global firms outside India and we expect more to come in as the days go by. The Gujarat Government and the Government of India's Department of Industrial Planning and Policy (DIPP) is working together to invite global CEOs. We are expecting participation of about 25 Global CEOs and heads of the multinational corporations to attend the event,” said P K Taneja, additional chief secretary, industries & mines department, Government of Gujarat.  

PM Modi is expected to arrive at Gandhinagar on January 9 to inaugurate the Global Trade Show exhibition as well as the international exchange at GIFT City by BSE.  The next day, PM Modi will be formally inaugurating the VGGS 2017, followed by the Global CEO Conclave in the evening.

Singh claimed that the eighth edition of VGGS will be the biggest of all the past summits and “exceed any other event happening elsewhere in the country”.  Singh maintained that the event was not likely to see any impact of the recent demonetisation on the grounds of long-term investment plans made by participating firms.

Moreover, stepping away from the previous tradition of being merely an investment summit, VGGS 2017 will see more focus on knowledge sharing and action based brainstorming. For instance, for the first time in the country, VGGS 2017 will see several Nobel Laureates host an exhibition in the area of science as well as a round table discussion.