Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Preparations got underway for the 10th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit, a flagship event to attract investments, in January 2022. The summit which was to be held in 2021 was cancelled following the pandemic. This year's summit will focus on the employment generation in the state. The industry department has also issued tenders for printing materials for the promotion of the summit.
According to information, a meeting was held on September 14, 2021, between Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and senior officials through a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which the dates and the roadmap for the summit were chalked out.
The newly appointed Consul General of Japan, Dr. Fukhori Yasukata paid a courtesy visit to Gandhinagar. During the meeting with former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the Japanese Consul General said that Japan would be investing heavily in Gujarat to further promote the name of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' through the forthcoming Vibrant Summit. Gujarat is the best destination in India for FDI investments and industrial development.
The Vibrant Gujarat Summit, which is held every two years, was launched with a view to making Gujarat a global hub of industries and setting up new businesses. Entrepreneurs from several countries would be a part of the summit.
In 2019, the Adani Group announced an investment of Rs55,000 crore over the next five years. It was also announced that Reliance would set up various projects worth Rs3 lakh crore in Gujarat in the next 10 years. The project to be set up at various places in Gujarat, includes energy, petrochemicals and digital business.
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The first Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit was held in 2003. It was inaugurated by the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. The summit was hosted by Ahmedabad and Surat, two important industrial cities of Gujarat from 28 September 2003 to 2 October 2003 and was co-sponsored by the Government of India, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, FICCI and CII as the nodal agency of the Industrial Extension Bureau.
The first summit was attended by Industrial Investment, Agro-Processing, Biotech-Pharma, Natural Gas and Oil, Infrastructure, Mining, Tourism, Apparel and Gems and Jewelry sectors in Ahmedabad and Garment and Textiles and Gems and Jewelry were focus sectors.
The products and services of that sector got a platform in various exhibitions in both the cities. With potential investors, one-to-one meetings of government officials and project promoters were held. In which 176 project proposals were scrutinized. Among the corporate leaders present at the summit were global companies including Subir Raha, C.K. Birla, CEO of Shell Company, British Gas, General Motors, P&O Ports, Nico & Stag. Among the international dignitaries present was former US Senator Larry Presler and Michelle Clark. A total of 76 MoUs were signed as an achievement of the Summit in which an investment of US 14 billion dollars was made available.
In 2005, the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit was inaugurated by the then President Bherosinh Shekhawat. It was attended by 6,000 people. Various corporate companies, foreign delegates, NRIs, businessmen from various sectors were present. The summit was also attended by dignitaries like Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Shashi Ruia, Nigel Shaw. The Rs 870 billion project was signed on the first day of the summit. The summit had a focused agenda on Gujarat's leading business sectors including IT, Biotech, Agro, Petroleum, Unconventional Energy, Ports, Financial Services. The exhibition of the Summit was held in Science City which had 200 exhibitors from home and abroad. By the end of the summit, 226 units had signed MoUs worth Rs 1,060 billion with 4 giant companies investing Rs 120 billion in the gas-based lignite power project, which has become today's most needed sector.
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In 2007, the summit held in Ahmedabad from January 12-13, highlighted Gujarat as a global investment destination and was hailed as the engine of growth of the Indian economy. All the three summits till 2007 played an important role in establishing Gujarat as an ideal destination for foreign investors. Gujarat's impression was created among the industrialists that it's not 'Red Tape' but 'Red Carpet' being laid for them in Gujarat. The summit focused on agro and food processing, engineering, auto and ceramics, biotechnology, textiles and textiles, gems and jewellery, tourism, IT, power, oil and gas, chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, SEZ and port-led development. The summit was extended to four days with exhibitions held as a pre-summit activity on 10-11 January 2007. Which was named 'Gujarat Discovered'. A sum of US 152 billion dollars was invested through 675 MoUs as a result of the summit.
The theme of the 4th Vibrant Summit held on 12-13 January 2009 was 'Gujarat Going Global' and its main objectives were to bring together business leaders, investors, thought leaders, policymakers and opinion-makers. The two-day summit saw the signing of 8662 MoUs worth US 243 billion dollars. 600 delegates from 45 countries participated. Leaders of all major groups in the country including Ratan Tata, K.V. Kamath, Mukesh Ambani were present. Japan, UK, China, Russia, Canada, Israel, Poland, Korea, UAE, Malawi, Indonesia, Oman, Kenya, Italy, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Maldives also participated. Japan became the partner country of Gujarat with this summit. This was the first time that any country joined any state. After this, Japan is still working with JETRO in Gujarat.
The 2011 Summit was held in Gandhinagar from 12-13 January 2011. It was inaugurated at the Mahatma Mandir in Sector 13, which was developed as a dedicated place for the summit. 7,936 MoUs were signed through the agenda of the summit and delegations from home and abroad and an investment of US 462 billion was decided in two days.
The Vibrant Gujarat 2013 Summit was also held on January 12-13 at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. What was new about this summit was that besides Gujarat, it also had Indian states like Karnataka and developed-developing countries like Mozambique, Canada, UK and Japan as hosts.
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In 2015, the 7th Vibrant Summit was held at Mahatma Mandir Gandhinagar from January 12-13. In response to the success of the six summits so far, this summit transformed Gujarat into a global business hub. Focusing on inclusive growth, Gujarat identified key areas for development that included innovation, sustainability, youth and skill development, knowledge sharing and networking. The summit served as an ideal platform for consolidation, business opportunities and knowledge decentralization in other states and countries. Trade shows also became popular in Vibrant Gujarat. More than 2000 companies participated in the exhibitions and about 1 million visitors attended. A total of 25,000 delegates came from 110 countries, including India. The summit was attended by a long list of delegates, including the Prime Minister of Bhutan, the Prime Minister of Macedonia, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary of State of the United States John Kerry, and the heads of the World Bank.
The 8th Vibrant Summit summit was held from January 10-12, 2017 at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. Sustainable economic and social development was the focus. The summit was a platform to bring the corporate world together with the governments of the states and the country. A record 25,578 MoUs were unveiled at the summit, including 18,533 from the MSME sector, 5,938 from the large-scale sector and 1,107 from the Strategic and Technological Partnership sector. What is different, however, is that the total value of the MoU was not disclosed.
In 2019, the 9th summit which was held from January 18-20 2019, UAE, Uzbekistan and Morocco joined as partner countries. The MoU setting for the dairy plant was Rs 560 crore and included the first MoU for the CNG terminal. The President of Uzbekistan Mirziyoyev attended the Vibrant Gujarat International Investment Summit as the Chief Guest and was the Flagship Investment Country Partner. At the summit, the then Chief Secretary of Gujarat, J.N. Singh, said that 70 per cent of the total MoUs signed during the previous summit had been materialized. The summit was expected to be attended by 20,000 delegates from abroad and 26,380 registered companies. In addition to Japan, Australia, Canada and France were partner countries. The celebration of Africa Day at this summit was a new adventure. The summit had 42,526 registered delegates, 285 registered delegations and 26,893 registered companies.
