State's red carpet for investors

Giving wings to the developmental dreams of Kerala, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the investors’ meet, ‘Emerging Kerala 2012’, at the Le Meridien Convention Centre here on Wednesday.

Governor H R Bharadwaj, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Union Ministers A K Antony, E Ahmed, Mullappally Ramachandran, K V Thomas, ministers from the state K M Mani, P K Kunhalikutty and Chief Secretary K Jayakumar will attend the function.

Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan will be conspicuous by his absence.

As many as 2,500 delegates from 52 countries will participate in the meet which will conclude on Friday.

The government expects the ‘Emerging Kerala’, which brings together some of the finest thinkers and policymakers, will show the pro-active policies of the state to the world, its commitment to inclusive development and sustainability and its efforts to create an investor-friendly environment.

Around 170 projects prepared by various departments, including PSUs, will be discussed at the summit.

Many of the 26 areas showcased to global delegates at ‘Emerging Kerala’ will be offering potential for growth and investment.

The core sectors include IT and IT-enabled services, tourism and medical tourism, healthcare services, food and agro-processing, knowledge and education, green energy, biotechnology and nanotechnology.

Having set no targets for investments, the government terms the initiative a brainstorming exercise to generate ideas and strategies to spur growth in the future.

Though the government wants to  facilitate new business and trade partnerships, no MoUs will be signed.

“Kerala is hopeful that some major ideas which would trigger the growth of the state would emerge from the meet,” Kunhalikutty said.

The summit will feature four plenary sessions on ‘Kerala development model: Enabling faster, inclusive and sustainable growth’, ‘Bridging the infrastructure gap: Role of PPPs to spur growth’, ‘Manufacturing, trade and services: Growth engines of Kerala economy’ and ‘Conservation & preservation of socio-cultural heritage of Kerala’.