Mamata invites German biz honchos to invest in Bengal

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee invited German investors and business leaders to come and attend the Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled to be held in 2019 amid discussions during a meeting, jointly organised by IHK, Frankfurt, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, FICCI and the government of West Bengal in Frankfurt, Germany.

Top business leaders from Germany along with a delegation of nearly 50 business and industry leaders from Bengal took part in the meeting.

Extensive deliberations were held on the prospects of doing business in Bengal with particular focus on possible investments from Germany in the state in sectors like industrial infrastructure and logistics hub, engineering and foundry hub, petrochemical and polytechnic hub, urban development, IT and ITeS, financial technology, agro and food processing, textiles and tools, leather, transport, power, tourism and social infrastructure projects.

Possibilities of investment in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, which is a key economic activity in Germany, was also extensively discussed.

The welcome address was delivered by Mukta Dutta Tomar, Ambassador of India, to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Addressing the meet, Mamata Banerjee said Bengal is the ideal destination for investment. "It is the gateway to the North-eastern states, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. It takes less than an hour to reach Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh by air. Also, Singapore, Bangkok and Myanmar can be reached easily from the state. So position wise, it is the ideal destination — easily accessible, facilitated by proper transportation," she maintained.

Banerjee said the state government is ready to provide all the privileges and provisions to the investors. "We have land bank, land-use policy and the government is ready to provide all possible assistance." She said there is no dearth of talent in Bengal. "Go anywhere in the world and you will find talented people from Bengal. Come to Bengal and use them," she urged the industrialists.

Banerjee maintained that in skill development, Bengal is the number 1 state in India. The state government provides scholarships to lakhs of students. In e-governance, the state has done remarkably well. Bengal's Kanyashree scheme has already gained worldwide appreciation.

Recollecting Bengal's long association with Germany, she said Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had visited Germany and Netaji even married a German lady. "Like the Germans, the people from Bengal are huge football fans. We respect the German football teams and several players are highly respected in Bengal and also have a large fan-following."

Earlier, in the day she stated that she had come to Germany to acquire investments in engineering and while in Italy her main target would be to establish business with the leather industry. "Many leather industries from Kanpur are planning to shift to Bengal and this will give job opportunities to lakhs of youths."

The discussion on Opportunities in West Bengal and Industry Experiences was presided over by state Finance minister Amit Mitra. Among the participants were Jurgen Ratzinger, Managing Director, International Business IHK Frankfurt. Dirk Matter, director IGCC Dusseldork; Oliver Wack, area manager; Foreign Trade Department East and South Asia trade policy.

Industrialists from Bengal included Purnendu Chatterjee, Rudra Chatterjee, Tarun Jhunjhunwala, Sanjay Puri, K K Bangur and Mayank Jalan who shared their experiences of doing business in Bengal.