By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Addressing the gathering at Odisha Business Meet Tokyo-2023 on Wednesday, Industries, Energy and MSME Minister Pratap Keshari Deb stressed that “Under the leadership of Chief Minister, the State Government has taken a whole-of-Government approach toward service delivery to citizens and businesses.”
“We are today becoming a destination of choice for investors across the country. I would like to welcome all the industry captains, associations and their members present here to come and explore Odisha as your next investment destination,” Deb said.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena welcomed the august gathering and shed light on how Odisha has been one of the major breakout states in the country in terms of development, registering impressive GSDP growth rates year-after-year and industrializing at break-neck speed under the leadership of the Chief Minister.
Principal Secretary, Industries, Hemant Sharma made a presentation about the industrial ecosystem in Odisha to the audience. He highlighted the State’s over two decades of stable governance, the state’s position in the EoDB ranking, the competitive cost of doing business, the impact of investment facilitation, best-in-class incentives and highly skilled human resources, which gives the state a distinct competitive advantage over others.
Principal Secretary, Electronics & IT, Manoj Mishra spoke about the emerging IT/ITeS ecosystem in the State. He also highlighted the growth-focused and future-oriented IT Policy, Data Centre Policy, BPO Policy, and Electronics Policy brought in by the Government of Odisha to further strengthen the ESDM and IT/ITeS sector and attract new investments into the State.
Kazuya Nakajo, Executive Vice-President, JETRO, highlighted the emerging business opportunities between Japan and India. He termed the partnership between the two countries more as a “Familial Bond” rather than a “Business Relationship”.
Shri Nakajo spoke about the various upcoming measures being taken by the Government of India including the creation of large-scale industrial infrastructure across the country and urged his Japanese friends to seriously consider major investments in India.
He also highlighted Odisha’s strategic location and natural resource advantage as a key to Odisha being an attractive investment destination for Japanese investors.
Mayank Joshi, Deputy Head of Mission, Indian Embassy of Japan, highlighted the ease of doing business reforms carried out by India and its impact in making a robust industrial ecosystem across States.
Shri Joshi also praised Odisha for the investment promotion and facilitation initiatives taken by the state.The event was attended by more than 200 leading companies in Japan and the Indo-Pacific region who witnessed the offerings of the Government of Odisha and got an opportunity to explore various avenues of collaboration with the state government and local companies in Odisha.
