By Shams Ahsan
Jeddah — Saudi investors have shown keen interest in the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit (VGS 2017) scheduled to take place in the western Indian state from Jan. 10 to 13, a senior state government official visiting the Kingdom to promote the 8th edition of the summit told Saudi Gazette here on Monday.
“The response of Saudi investors has been beyond expectations,” said Dr. Rajiv Kumar Gupta, principal secretary Govt. of Gujarat who is also the managing director of Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. (GNFC).
“We were expecting four or five delegates from Saudi Arabia, but in my initial few hours of stay here the number of delegates from Jeddah has already reached 15. And I am yet to spend three more days in Saudi Arabia,” said Gupta, expressing a sense of satisfaction.
“Our prime minister visited Saudi Arabia in April. So doors have been opened. We are supposed to follow up on his visit and work to implement the agenda which was set for mutual bilateral cooperation. And the Vibrant Gujarat Summit is a good platform for this,” he said.
Gupta is leading a high profile delegation drawn from various sectors to interact with Saudi investors in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam and invite them to the VGS which has come to be known as the “Davos of the East.”
One of the new additions to the 8th VGS has been the theme “Connecting India to the World.”
In keeping with the theme, the Gujarat government has sent invitations to 12 countries to be part of the summit. It has also sent 15 of its top bureaucrats to different parts of the world to promote the summit.
And so Gupta is here in Saudi Arabia to make the Kingdom an important part of the summit.
“Gujarat can connect to Saudi Arabia in many ways. There is a lot of chemical trading which is taking place from Gujarat to Saudi Arabia. We are exporting tolylene diisocyanate which is the main constituent of foam.
“One area of attraction for Saudi investors can be foam making. We invite them to Gujarat to set up plants where raw material is available. We have the longest coastline and the only chemical port terminal in the country.
There are many other speciality chemicals which are being exported to Saudi Arabia. So those relationships can be expanded,” the Gujarat government official said.
He said that Gujarat is the preferred destination for chemicals and petrochemicals. But there are certain virgin areas wherein Saudi investors can come in to set up plants, Gupta said giving an example of sodium nitrite used in dyes.
“GNFC is making huge quantities of nitric acid important to produce sodium nitrite. We can join hands to set up a sodium nitrite plant,” he said.
He said that solar power is one area where Gujarat and Saudi Arabia can join hands. Gujarat has been the forerunner as far as the development of solar power in India is concerned. The biggest solar power plant was opened by then chief minister and current prime minister Narendra Modi.
“I have had interactions with investors at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and they are interested in solar power development,” said Gupta, who had one-on-one interactions at the JCCI on Monday.
“I found that many people are willing to invest if proper facilities are provided. For example, one person wanted to set up a medium-size plastic unit. Another person wanted a long-term supply agreement on chemicals. On the spot we found people willing to invest their money.”
Gupta, who also met the CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB), said that an MoU signed in April between the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) and ICD will help extend a $100 million commercial line of credit to facilitate export.
He also said that there were discussions going on to get IDB to the Gujarat International Finance Tech City (GIFT city).
“If IDB or its associate ICD opens a branch there, it will be a great thing. They can promote many small- and medium-scale industries. We have invited the CEO of ICD to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. He has readily agreed to come,” said Gupta, who also had constructive talks with senior executives of the Saudi Binladin Group.
“I invited the Saudi Binladin Group to invest in the healthcare sector.”
Gupta said that there are additional areas which can be of interest to Saudi investors. These are healthcare, tourism, health tourism and airport development.
For ease of business, the Gujarat government has developed an investor facility portal. If an investor registers on the portal and enters his requirements, such as seeking permission, licenses, letters of intent from various departments, etc., then it is the department’s duty to process the request. “We have created a single window where the processing of various kinds of related activities is done online.”
Listing the incentives for investors, he said that the government has a policy of the allotment of land at a concessional price for projects related to education and healthcare.
Other incentives include the fast clearance of projects, infrastructure development, and a 100 percent buyback option within the country.
