Pre-Summit Investors' meet held in New Delhi ahead of J&K Global Investors' Summit 2020

With the objective of inviting investments to the newly formed UT of Jammu and Kashmir, a three-day Global Investors' Summit 2020 is scheduled to be held early this year in Srinagar and Jammu. As a precursor to this mega event, a Pre-Summit Investors' Meet and curtain-raiser of the event was held on January 20 in New Delhi.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, Girish Chandra Murmu, Lieutenant Governor of UT of Jammu & Kashmir; Kewal Kumar Sharma, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, J&K; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary and other senior officers were present at the event.

This event showcased wide-ranging investment opportunities available in the fourteen focus sectors to boost manufacturing and employment generation in the region. More than 350 delegates from various sectors and leading orgsations participated in the event where more than 45 B2G meetings took place.

The aim of the upcoming Global Investors' Summit 2020 is to exhibit investment opportunities available in the newly formed UT of J&K in different sectors including Tourism, Film Tourism, Horticulture & Post Harvest Management, Agro and Food Processing, Mulberry production for silk, Health & Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, IT/ ITes, Renewable Energy, Infrastructure and Real Estate, Handloom & Handicraft and Education.

At present, the Government of J&K is developing 2 IT parks, ICD in Samba and has identified industrial land bank of over 6,000 acres across 20 districts of J&K to develop State-of-the-Art Industrial Parks. Also, the J&K Government has removed all the toll barriers to enable seamless inward and outward movement of raw materials and goods.

During this Pre-Summit Investors' Meet & curtain-raiser, a state film along with the focus sector profiles and policies were introduced by Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner/Secretary Industries & Commerce, J&K with the focus on the theme: Explore (the opportunities in industries and infrastructure, policies in the region), Invest (in the new and existing investment options); Grow (prosper via incentives and strategic advantages in key sectors).

Jitendra Singh congratulated the Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Girish Chandra Murmu for taking the initiative. He said, "Prime Minister's indulgence in the J&K region is leading to a lot of development in various sectors."

On the occasion, Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Girish Chandra Murmu said, "Inspired by the Prime Minister's vision of orgzing the Global Investors' Summit in Gujarat, the J&K Government took the decision of showcasing J&K's potential for investment through a summit. The Global Investors' Meet, with the theme of Explore, Invest & Grow, is a platform that will bring together senior entrepreneurs, leaders of the corporate sector from across the country, senior policymakers, development agencies, investors from across the world and local businessmen. We intend to take a leap forward in making Jammu and Kashmir an economic paradise for investors and I would like to invite you all to take the lead in setting up your enterprises in Jammu & Kashmir."

He also added, "Today's Pre-Summit Investors' Interaction has been orgzed to deliberate with you all on desired initiatives for creating an investor-friendly ecosystem and make you interested in J&K. I have brought along senior officers from the Government to discuss these further with you during the rest of the day."

BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir, said, "Jammu and Kashmir is little known about except what we have seen in the films, it is quite different from what we know. J&K is not a backward place but it has the brightest and skilled people. J&K is number one in Apple production but we just process 1% of the produce. Such areas are there similarly in many sectors and there are huge opportunities for investments and for contributing to growth and employment in J&K."

The Chief Secretary further added that the administration of J&K is re-engineering all the processes and policies to break age-old barriers and create a progressive ecosystem for investors. Easy availability of land through Land Bank and smooth clearances with dedicated teams to attend to investors will be a priority of the administration.

Key government officials including all Administrative secretaries were present and participated in one to one B2G meetings along with the officers from departments of UT and central ministries. Many other prominent dignitaries were present at the event.

The event was orgsed by Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Orgzation (JKTPO), a nodal agency under the Industries and Commerce department Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

( With inputs from ANI )