NT Reporter
Panaji
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday made a strong appeal to delegates at the valedictory session of the three-day Vibrant Goa Global Business Summit to do business in the state, disclosing that the mega event resulted in the Goa-Investment Promotion Board (IPB) inking nine Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 8,600 crore.
The investment proposals are likely to lead to 5,000 jobs in Artificial Intelligence (AI), data centres, technology, hospitality, energy, logistics, healthcare and other
“industrial sectors.
Extending a simple request to delegates to invest, Sawant said that the state offers ease of doing business, a second international airport, a logistics and warehousing policy and an upcoming electronic manufacturing cluster (EMC). “It now needs only your capital and confidence to invest in
Goa,” he said.
Sawant, who also attended an Invest Goa session on Friday, said that the government is fully aware of investor needs. “The government will facilitate your business proposals through investment-friendly policies and will keep the process easy,” he said, while urging delegates to look beyond Panaji and Calangute toward the state’s hinterland.
The summit featured a large number of business-to-business (B2B) meetings alongside reverse buyer-seller meets organised under the RAMP scheme by the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce.
Stressing that MSMEs remain his government’s primary focus, Sawant said, “We are not merely announcing schemes, we are handing over market access, and the reverse buyer-seller meet is the perfect example. We did not ask for our small manufacturer to go and search for the buyers in distant places. We brought the big buyer here to the Goan seller”.
Highlighting the Mukhyamantri Export Incentive Scheme announced in the state budget, Sawant assured that the government would fast-track its implementation. “The scheme will be implemented. The department of industries will handhold MSMEs through the first export consignment to their sustained export journey. The scheme will achieve its goal of creating 500 MSME champion exporters by 2037,” he said.
Furthermore, responding to plans by the Vibrant Goa Foundation to host a Defence Conclave, Sawant assured full support, stating that Goa is a natural location for such an event and inviting them to submit a formal proposal.
The Vibrant Goa event concluded on Saturday with sessions covering education, AI and Data Centres, skilling in the MSME sector and a conclave on Goan diaspora businessmen, among other topics.
