Sentiments have changed with new govt at Centre: Saurabh Patel

Interview with Minister of Finance, Gujarat

The biennial Vibrant Gujarat Summit will now enter its seventh edition. Under new Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, the summit is only getting bigger thanks to more partners, Narendra Modi's decision to open the event and the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being hosted in Gujarat around the same time in January 2015. Heading the preparation work for the summit with the chief minister is Saurabh Patel, Minister of Finance, Gujarat. He tells Vinay Umarji how the summit will benefit other states too. Edited excerpts:

The government machinery has been making frequent trips to Mahatma Mandir, the venue for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015? Are we prepared to host both the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and the summit?

The chief minister has personally visited the site and conducted meetings in this regard and directed everyone to finish the work before December 15. She has taken a lot of interest in the summit and as a result the first roadshow has been successful in Delhi. We will have another roadshow in Mumbai soon. We have built up a team and work has been allocated accordingly to them. The nature of work will almost be the same for both the events.

In its previous edition, the summit was being portrayed as a global knowledge platform. How different will the 2015 summit be? What will be the government's focus this year?

We started in 2003 when Modiji showcased the Vibrant Gujarat Summit as an investment destination to bring back investor confidence after the Kutch earthquake. The summit took place in an auditorium and there were no exhibitions. Then the 2005 summit took place, which was better than the 2003 edition. Then 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Our prime minister had then led the way in changing the focus of the summit from being just an investment destination to becoming a global business hub. Now, our chief minister (Anandiben Patel) is doing the same.

We are very lucky to have the prime minister open the summit and we are sure that the top delegates from all our partner countries will also come. On the first day, the focus will be on partner country seminars. On the second day, we will focus on small and medium enterprises, state seminars and sectoral seminars.

The focus is not on investment in Gujarat. Now, investment (in Gujarat) is on automatic mode. Today, investments are coming to Gujarat because of policies and infrastructure.

How do you see the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas giving a fillip to Vibrant Gujarat Summit?

These are two separate events - the people are different, the delegations are different, the issues and topics are different. So, people who come for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas can participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit but our business delegations and events are being looked after with a different and specific focus.

What changes are being made in the pre-summit sectoral events that have been taking place for several months? What new sectors are being added and which sectors will see more emphasis?

We have identified a lot of sectors and we are trying to get the best speakers for them; people who have deep knowledge in their respective fields. Maybe, after a short span of time, we will come back on the exact details of the sectoral focus.

Will the budgetary allocations be sufficient for conducting the event? How do you plan to raise funds for the same and what is your requirement?

We are not worried about the funds. We don't sponsor people to come for the summit. Also, our infrastructure is already in place. Everything has been provided in the Budget. Even the business delegations are travelling on their own money; only the government representatives who go as part of the delegation are paid for by the government.

Which countries will be partnering and participating in 2015 Summit? How big will be the participation in terms of number of delegates as compared to the previous edition?

The number of partner countries has increased from just two (Japan and Canada) in the previous edition to seven (Japan, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, South Africa, Singapore and the Netherlands). A lot of delegations are expected to participate in the 2015 summit. However, we will get a clear picture once we finish most of our delegation visits by September. The participation will result in exhibitions that will be huge. One of the biggest exhibitions in the country will be held with a space of around 125,000 sq metres being provided during the summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to Japan. Will his trip add impetus to the summit?

Japan has been a major partner country for some time now. Of course, with the prime minister visiting Japan, the participation from the country is expected to increase.

Will the Congress and other party-led states be participating in the summit?

There are no Bharatiya Janata Party or Congress states for us. All the states have been invited for this summit. They can come in and join us. We have started receiving confirmations. In this edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, we are having state seminars and have also invited states to set up their own pavilions, hold their own seminars and showcase their policies to attract investment for their states.

How will you rate the success of the event? How much investment are we expecting from the meet?

It is not about how much investment will come to Gujarat. Sentiments have changed after the new government has come in. Our prime minister has given a call for a "Made in India" tag.

The manufacturing sector is going to give us a thrust. Today, countries all over the world are looking at India. So naturally, in this Vibrant Gujarat Summit, people will come and they will have lot of business-to-business meetings, which will eventually benefit the whole country.