Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 22 (IANS): Highlighting the transformative shift in the industrial landscape of Kerala reinforced by government policies, state Industries Minister P. Rajeeve held more than 30 one-on-one meetings at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, focusing on his state's investment potential in diverse sectors.
In interactions held at the Invest Kerala Pavilion at WEF, Rajeeve focused on various verticals ranging from high-tech to MSMEs in the state, which now tops the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking in India.
This is for the first time Kerala has been participating in the 'India Pavilion', set up by the Central government at WEF.
The Invest Kerala Pavilion featured the state government’s New Industrial Policy (NIP) and a slew of other path-breaking initiatives that have transformed the state into a flourishing industrial destination.
The India Pavilion has been set up by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, government of India.
"We have had a good round of fruitful meetings at WEF. The business leaders showed great interest in the transformation that the state’s industrial landscape has undergone on the strength of the government’s policies. They also expressed keen interest in the upcoming Invest Kerala Global Summit,” said Rajeeve.
Apart from highlighting the core strengths of the state like the availability of highly competent professional talent, world-class infrastructure and conducive government policies, the Minister told the business leaders that the state placed emphasis on sustainability and inclusiveness.
Rajeeve pointed out that specific segments including IT/ITES, Spacetech, Medical Devices and Healthcare, Maritime infrastructure and Tourism promise attractive investment opportunities.
The Invest Kerala pavilion created buzz and is part of the India Pavilion, which highlights its campaign 'We Are Changing the Nature of Business', which focuses on sustainable and responsible industrial goals.
The pavilion focuses on the Vizhinjam International Port, the Palakkad Industrial Corridor, and Kerala's sustainable and responsible industrial model. Kerala also introduced the achievements achieved in its MSME sector through the Year of Entrepreneurship initiative in the pavilion that helped start 3,40,202 enterprises in three years.
These enterprises have generated investments worth Rs 21,838 crore and created 7,21,000 jobs.
Rajeeve is leading a high-level delegation to WEF consisting of high-ranking government officials.