AHMEDABAD: Stage is set for the 8th edition of the four-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, which begins on January 10, 2017 in Gandhinagar, state chief secretary J N Singh said today.
As many as 12 countries and seven global organisations have joined as partner countries and organisations, he said.
The Summit, being held on the theme, "Connecting India to the World," will also have representatives from various states attending the events, with Arunachal Pradesh and some other North-Eastern states having shown interest, while efforts are on to take neighbouring states on board, Singh added.
The 2017 Summit will also see for the first time a five-week long Nobel Laureate Exhibition and panel discussions with 8-10 Nobel laureates in attendance, Singh said.
Twelve countries which have partnered the Summit are Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, UAE, UK, and the USA.
Seven partner organisations - Australia India Business Council, Indo-Canada Chambers of Commerce, Japan External Trade Organisation, UAE India Business Council, UK India Business Council, US India Business Council, and British Council - will also support the Summit, Singh said.
"The 2017 Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, to be held between January 10-13, will be the most exciting global event at least in India. It will by far exceed any such event being done by other states. It is also an example of cooperative federalism with several states setting up their platforms, and discussing their ideas," Singh told reporters here.
He said Gujarat has received active support from Centre's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Department of Biotechnology, and Ministry of External Affairs for its organisation, which have guided the state in its organisation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, apart from inaugurating the Summit on January 10, will on January 9 inaugurate redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station which will have a multi-storey hotel at railway station, among other facilities as part of a pilot project plan to develop railway stations into socio-economic activities hub, he said.
Modi will also inaugurate an international stock exchange of BSE at GIFT City and a Nobel laureate exhibition, a Global Trade Show on January 9. He will chair a Global CEO
round table, which will be a closed-door event with select global and Indian CEOs on January 10, Singh said.
Then, on January 11 and 12, as well as on January 13, a host of seminars on 'Make In Gujarat, action seminar, and other events will be held, the chief secretary said, adding Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to be present inGST Seminar.
Other seminars on International Financial City, Aerospace, Defence, Plastics, Pharmaceuticals, among others will be held during the Summit.
For the first time "action seminars" will be organised where discussions will be held among practitioners, experts, industry leaders, incubators, academic innovation centres, civil society and government representatives, on the possibilities of "make your own policy" environment, Singh said.
Singh ruled out the adverse impact of demonetisation on the signing of MoUs or investment intentions at the Summit, and said in fact, this may open up opportunities for companies in digital space and service sectors.
So far, from 2003 till 2015, 51,738 MOUs/investment intentions were signed in Vibrant Gujarat Summits, out of which 34,234 projects are in implementation stage, additional chief secretary (industries and mines) P K Taneja informed reporters.