The Truth of Bengal: There are business summits and there are business summits. And then there is Bengal Global Business Summit, the annual investment summit organised by the government of West Bengal with the objective of attracting investments to the state. This year the flagship event of the Bengal government was held on November 21 and 22. The two-day event — held across three state-of-the-art venues in Kolkata — should ideally be described as a model business summit for a variety of reasons.
The show ended with the chief minister’s announcement that investment proposals worth Rs 3,76,288 crore, contained in 188 memorandums of understanding (MoU) and letters of intent (LoI), were received during the summit. The summit set new standards in terms of international participation as representatives from around 40 countries took part in the conclave, their presence endorsing the theme that Bengal Means Business. Brand Bengal got a big boost as Amazon India signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bengal government to promote e-commerce exports. As the announcement came a day after the state formally placed a logistics policy, most experts felt that the state was on the right track to woo business.
The government’s decision to announce an Internet Cable Landing Station Policy 2023 at the summit also drew loud cheers from industry insiders as they applauded the state government’s pragmatic approach. Several such achievements can be listed and the list will go on and on. But the most important thing about the summit was its inclusive character. While it is true that some of the biggest business tycoons of the country — like Mukesh Ambani — were invited to attend the two-day conference, the state government also ensured the presence of scores of entrepreneurs, representing the small and medium enterprises in Bengal, in the meet.
Top industry associations like the CII and the FICCI partnered the state government in putting together the show, but the chambers from the districts of Bengal also participated in the event. The seventh edition of BGBS stood out for the prominence it gave to the SME sector, which can be described as the backbone of Bengal’s economy. The fact that the state government values this sector became apparent in the valedictory session when several businessmen from the SME sector got an opportunity to share their investment and expansion plans with the chief minister.
The chief minister sat through the session with patience and encouraged every businessman, who shared his or her plan. “Small is always beautiful and villages are the growth centres,” said the chief minister in her remarks. It is true that size does matter and a couple of big-ticket investments in the manufacturing sector can make a lot of difference to the state’s economy. But a pro-poor and a sensitive government, which never compromises on the question of welfare of its people, cannot bank solely on such investments.
That’s why the realist chief minister made all attempts to ensure the presence of entrepreneurs belonging to the SME sector and encouraged them to expand their operations. This was indeed a masterstroke and the high-point of the summit as scores of home-grown entrepreneurs attended the summit and took a pledge in front of the chief minister that they would expand their operations or start new ventures in an entire gamut of areas, ranging from light engineering to fisheries and textiles to dairies. There is little doubt that these small units will not only drive the state’s economic growth, but will also create employment opportunities in different parts of the state besides boosting the image of Bengal as a business destination.
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