Third edition of Bengal Global Business Summit to be biggest so far

This year, the third edition of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) will be organised on a 24 acre space at Milan Mela, which will be the biggest summit so far.

The state government-owned fairground, which will host the summit on Friday and Saturday, will have top-class facilities and security arrangements for delegates.

Officers who are looking after the arrangements at the ground said that 18 acre of land will be used for the ‘actual area of summit’, while the additional six acre at Milan Mela will be used for open air expositions for dignitaries and delegates coming from across the globe.

West Bengal Trade Promotion Organisation (WBTPO), the organisation in charge of maintaining the fairground, had started its work to renovate the facilities a month ago.

Milan Mela is the primary exhibition and convention centre in the city. Till date, it is Kolkata’s largest exhibition centre. The phase I of the Milan Mela consists of four large halls, open theatres, parking areas, food court and large entrances. The phase II comprises mostly open space for arranging fairs.

“This year, we have arranged a much larger space for BGBS, compared to the last two summits. This year, it will be arranged on 24 acres of land. The main summit will be arranged on 18 acres and open air area will be on six acres of land,” an officer of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited said.

The state government laid no stone unturned to strongly promote the event. The city was decked up with hoardings and billboards displaying the objectives of BGBS. A large hoarding was put up on VIP Road at the entrance and exit point of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, featuring Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s picture and the tag line ‘Come to Bengal, Ride the growth’. The hoardings were seen on most of the busiest road crossings and intersections.

Port, mining and MSME will be the main areas of focus at the 2017 edition of the summit. The state government recently framed a Maritime Policy, with the help of global analytical company CRISIL. With that, the government has also opened the ways to widen ‘port-based industrialisation’ to give an edge to Bengal’s trade scenario.

Promoting the state as the possessor of the third largest ‘mineral resource’ across India, the Bengal government will look to get investment in mining sector as well.

Meanwhile, the Commerce and Industry department will promote sectors like textile, gems and jewellery, leather, jute, forging, casting, apparel and handicraft under MSMEs.