THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘Invest Kerala Global Summit’ to be held in Kochi, Kerala is expected to give a booster shot to the State’s economic activities.
The two-day Summit, to be held on February 21 and 22, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. State Industries Minister P. Rajiv will preside over the summit. Central Ministers like Surplus Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari (Online), Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goel and Skill Development Minister Jayant Choudhury will also participate in the Summit which is expected to attract over 2500 investors, and prominent business magnates from all over the world.
In a heart-warming development, leader of the opposition (LoP) and senior Congress leader from Kerala V. D. Satheesan, a prominent critic of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government, will attend the Summit. Satheesan, noted businessman M. A. Yusufali, Adani Ports MD Karan Adani and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) President Sanjiv Puri will speak on the occasion.
A special attraction will be a 40-member delegation from Australia led by the Australian Consul General.
Incidentally, Kerala has emerged as the top state in the ease of doing business. This is a remarkable achievement considering the fact that the State was occupying only the 28th position sometime back. The feat earned high praise from Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. In an article in the New Indian Express, Tharoor lavished fulsome praise on the LDF Government for achieving ‘staggering growth’ in the Start-up sector. Borrowing Kerala’s tagline for tourism promotion, Tharoor noted that God’s Own Country was no more the Devil’s Own Playground for business and the State had reasons ‘to celebrate.’
The Summit is all set to give a big boost to the Start-up ecosystem which is making big strides in Kerala. A separate section to explore the possibilities of ensuring more investments in the startup sector will also be there. As a part of this, the inaugural day will witness a session on “nurturing the future of startups and innovation’.
The Summit will also see separate sessions to attract greater investments in the tourism sector too. In a significant step, the State Government has decided in principle to grant industry status to the tourism sector.
An immediate upshot of the decision will be more investment in and development of the tourism sector, which contributes around 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the State.
The tourism sector, it may be mentioned, provides employment to 5 to 10 lakh people directly and 20 lakh people indirectly. The sector has been in the doldrums since 2018 what with a slew of natural calamities – two floods in 2018 and 2019, two waves of Covid-19 outbreaks, and, last but not the least, the disastrous Wayanad landslides in 2024 which claimed over 250 lives.
Despite the announcement of a rejuvenation package in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and infusion of more capital, arrival of foreign tourists to the State is yet to gather momentum, having slipped from 11.9 lakh in 2019 to 6.5 lakh in 2023. The only saving grace is that domestic tourism has witnessed a surge.
Meanwhile, senior vice-president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), E. M. Najeeb has welcomed the move to grant industry status to tourism. The move will ensure a slew of benefits to the tourism industry, including power tariffs, water tariffs and property taxes at industry rates, compared to the present commercial rate. This will, in the long term, result in more investments and jobs in the sector.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM-K) has achieved another milestone with its Post Graduate Programme in Business Leadership making its debut in the Financial Times(FT) Global MBA Rankings 2025. IIM Kozhikode has secured the 86th rank globally, making it the highest new entrant in this year’s rankings.
The rankings are evaluated in the criteria such as salary growth, value for money and excellence of research.
The State took a significant industry-friendly step with the Cochin Shipyard Ltd.(CSL) and A. P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore collaboration opportunities in ship repair, maintenance and building activities in India.
The first Maersk vessel repair at CSL, will mark the beginning of a long-term collaborative relationship. The partnership signifies a significant milestone in CSL’s journey as the leading ship repairer in India. (IPA Service)
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