CHENNAI: Returning home after his eight-day tour to European countries, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday contended that foreign visits are necessary to showcase the investment potential of Tamil Nadu.
Answering queries from the reporters at the airport, the CM said that through his just-concluded visit to Germany and the United Kingdom, 33 MoUs have been signed with an investment commitment of Rs. 15,516 crore that would provide jobs to 17,613 people.
The CM said 10 new companies have come forward to make investments in Tamil Nadu, and six organisations have agreed to launch joint ventures in higher education and the MSME sectors. As many as 17 companies which have already invested in Tamil Nadu have decided to extend their business in the State without looking for other States, he added.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that my visit to European countries has been the most significant one among all the foreign trips I have undertaken over the past four and a half years. This is because during this visit alone, the highest investments have been attracted. This is the most successful as well as proud tour. This tour has been a proud one because I unveiled the portrait of social reformer Thanthai Periyar in the 1000-year-old Oxford University," he added.
Taking a dig at opposition leaders who have criticised his visit to foreign countries, the CM said, "At the investors' meet held in Germany, many have said they came to know that Tamil Nadu has so much potential only after listening to me. The investors at that meeting expressed confidence that, in the coming days, many investors from Germany would come to Tamil Nadu”
“I visited foreign countries to strengthen Tamil Nadu's partnership with other countries and to attract the investments. When a person who is at the helm of affairs of a State meets another person who is in the same position in another country, the relations get strengthened beyond business. That is the key objective of this tour,” he added.
Stalin said he will be visiting Hosur on September 11 to inaugurate the Delta Electronics established at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore and to lay the foundation for new industries to be established at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore. An investor's meet would be held in Hosur, which is akin to the one held in Thoothukudi.
"We expect that investments worth thousands of crores of rupees will be attracted in this meet also. Our visits to foreign countries to attract investments will not stop with this but will continue," he added.