Second edition of TN Global Investors Meet to begin tomorrow

: The second edition of the Tamil Nadu government's ambitious two-day Global Investors Meet, aimed at showcasing the state's potential business opportunities and wooing investment, will begin here Wednesday.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to inaugurate the event which is the first major event for the AIADMK government after the demise of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, under whose stewardship the maiden edition was held.

According to the Guidance Bureau, which acts as the nodal agency between investors and the state government, the objective of the event is to position Tamil Nadu as the investor's choice besides showcasing its potential business opportunities.

Over 250 companies from 10 countries would be taking part in the event at Chennai Trade Centre, sources said.

Trade body Confederation of Indian Industry is the organising chamber partner and the government had allocated Rs 75 crore to conduct the event.

A 45-member United Kingdom business delegation led by Trade Commissioner for South Asia, Crispin Simon would be taking part in the meet.

"I am delighted that we are partnering with the British Business Group here in Chennai to showcase what the UK has to offer--in the automotive, banking, financial services, healthcare...," Simon said.

"Over two-thirds of UK's FDI into India went to South India, with Tamil Nadu receiving nearly a third of the investment," he said.

Besides the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore are the partner countries for the event.

The maiden edition of the GIM was held in September 2015 and was inaugurated by Jayalalithaa. The state managed to attract investments of Rs 2.42 lakh crore then.

During the inauguration on Wednesday, Sitharaman is expected to release the aerospace and defence industrial policy 2019 aimed at giving an impetus to the sectors.

Recently, Sitharaman unveiled various projects in Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor which include Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli as nodes.

The corridor aims to bolster interaction between all the industry players in order to create long term synergy and eventual development of the area into a defence production powerhouse.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is expected to take part in the valedictory on January 24.