8th Vibrant Gujarat Summit to have 12 partner countries

The eighth edition of the high-profile biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, a conclave of industrial investors, will be held in state capital Gandhinagar between January 10 and January 13 with 12 countries partnering the event.

The event, which was initiated by Narendra Modi as Chief Minister in 2003, invited investment commitments of Rs 51,000 crore, of which 66 per cent projects have either been commissioned or are under advanced stages of implementation.

Giving this information, state Chief Secretary J.N. Singh told reporters here on Saturday that the 8th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit "will be bigger and grander". He added the scale of the event will be bigger than earlier editions held under Modi, though Singh did not name him.

The Summit will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, who will throw open a Global Trade Show as well as chair a Global CEOs Roundtable. Modi will also declare open a five-week long Nobel Laureate Exhibition.

Singh said the exhibition would be accompanied by panel discussions "where participants will have a unique opportunity to interact with these global minds on science and learn about the scientific developments across the world".

"We will also have dedicated seminars on 'Make In Gujarat', as an extension of 'Make in India'. For the first time we are organizing 'Action Seminars' to enable 'Make your own policy environment'. The idea is to make Vibrant Gujarat a truly global platform to ideate, engage and collaborate," he said.

Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Mines) P.K. Taneja said 12 countries would partner the event as against eight in the previous edition, "which reflects the growing interest in Gujarat worldwide".

"Through the 8th edition, we are also extending our commitment to encourage startups and MSMEs in the state. Additionally, we are also reaching out to other state governments to be a part of Vibrant Gujarat to truly represent our theme of 'Connecting India to the World'. I am confident of the attendees finding the summit interactive, knowledge driven and engaging," he added.

The 12 partner countries are Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, UAE, and US. The event will be supported by seven partner organisations - Australia India Business Council, Indo-Canada Chambers of Commerce, Japan External Trade Organization, UAE India Business Council, UK India Business Council, US India Business Council and British Council.

--IANS

desai/vd