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Bengal Global Business Summit 2019 begins today

Bengal Global Business Summit 2019 begins today

Kolkata, Feb 07 (UNI) The 5th edition (7-8 February) of the Bengal Global Business Summit begins today.
Bengal has had four successful summits in the last four years with participation from over 35 countries across the globe and business delegates from across India.

Partner countries for 2019 are Australia, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Republic of Korea and UAE.

The two-day business spectacle is being held at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in Newtown. It is India’s biggest convention centre.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address the plenary session.

The 2018 summit brought in investment proposals worth USD 145.93 billion reposing trust in Ms Banerjee’s slogan ‘Bengal means business’. A lot of the success owes itself to the effort of the Chief Minister in promoting Bengal as the best investment destination in India. Every year, she makes it a point to visit a few countries to personally meet government and business leaders from several countries. Last year, she held extensive discussions in Germany and Italy.
This year, 35 countries are participating in the summit. Among the 35 are 12 countries which have been given the honour of being ‘partner countries’ – Germany, Italy, the UK, Luxembourg, France, Japan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Czech Republic, UAE, Australia and Finland.
At BGBS 2019, Luxembourg is the partner country in any business summit in India for the first time. There will be country session on Luxembourg.
Its ambassador to India is leading the delegation, which comprise, among others, CEOs of six big companies – Paul Wurth, Rotarex Engineering, Boson Energy, Ceratizit, Amer-Sil Ketex and the law firm, Arendt & Medernach.


There will be a special country session on the United Kingdom too. There will be a joint session on start-ups as well. Britain is open to partnerships with Bengal as a gateway for the east and north-east.
The UK’s trade commissioner to India is leading the country’s delegation, which has several heads of organisations and CEOs, like those from UK Research & Innovation, OxSight Ltd. and UK India Business Council (UKIBC).


A 22-member delegation from France is attending the summit, being led by its ambassador to India. The delegation also has the minister counsellor and head of the regional economic department of the embassy of France in India, and consul general of France in Kolkata.
Top-level representatives from 14 French companies, including Accor, Alstom, Bassetti, Capgemini, Decathlon and Schneider Electric Company, are part of the delegation.


This year, for the first time, there will be trade delegations from Latin American and Caribbean countries – in fact, from 18 of them. These countries are grouped as the trade bloc, LAC. These 18 are among the 35 participating countries.

Representatives from some of these had attended the conference, ‘India-LAC Business Cooperation: Special focus on West Bengal’ in Kolkata last November.
There are a number of core competency areas that Bengal and the LAC countries have in common, like leather, textiles manufacturing, information technology (IT), etc.


Last time, there were a little over 4,000 delegates in total, including those from 32 countries. This time, with 35 countries participating and more organisations from India, this record will be broken.

The Bengal Global Business Summit is showing the way to the rest of the country on how a regional business summit can become the darling of the industry.

The BGBS is an annual flagship event organised by the State Government to showcase the state’s investment potential and to highlight its business enthusiasm in front of the global business community.
Over the past few years, BGBS has emerged as one of the foremost business summits in India. Some of the top industrialists have participated in these summits, along with several international
companies.
Starting in 2015, BGBS has brought substantial investments to the State. It is an event that recognises the State Government's efforts at generating industrial growth and prosperity for the state.
The second edition of the summit was held on January 8-9, 2016. The plenary sessions were addressed by dignitaries from India and abroad who shared their thoughts and experiences.
The summit focused on B2B (business-to-business) and G2B (government-to-business) interactions.
BGBS 2016 had the presence of industry leaders, senior ministers from India and abroad, heads of business and government leaders from 26 countries including USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, China,Korea, Bhutan, Bangladesh, etc.
Living up to the tagline of ‘Bengal Surging Ahead’, BGBS 2016 concluded on an optimistic note. Rs 2.50 lakh crore of business investment proposals were received at the summit.
The Bengal Government organised the third edition of the BGBS on January 20-21, 2017.
Inaugurated by then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BGBS 2017 was aimed at projecting Bengal to the global investor community.
Day one of the summit hosted plenary sessions on start-ups and entrepreneurship and multi-country Interactions while day two hosted eighteen sessions including eleven parallel sectoral sessions on focus sectors, special sessions on start-ups, country sessions, round-table discussion on a rising Bengal in emerging Asia and discussion on apparel and allied sectors.
BGBS 2017 was attended by 4,000 delegates from 29 countries. Japan, Poland, Italy and Germany were the partner countries.
Rs 2 lakh 35 thousand 200 crore (US$ 36 billion) of business and investment proposals were received at BGBS 2017.
The fourth edition of the BGBS took place at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre on January 16-17, 2018.
Japan, Germany, Italy, Poland, South Korea, France, Czech Republic, the UK and the UAE were the partner countries.
Over 1,046 B2B meetings and 40 B2G meetings took place during the summit.
BGBS 2018 received the participation of over 4,000 delegates from 32 countries from Europe, the Americas and Asia as well as from India.
The fourth edition of the summit saw attendance from Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal, Sajjan Jindal, Sanjiv Puri and Sanjiv Goenka, among others.
The 2018 summit received investment proposals worth Rs 2 lakh 19 thousand 925 crore, with the biggest success being the potential for creation of 20 lakh new jobs in the state.
Bengal has several advantages with respect to industrial development. Its strategic location makes it an ideal business destination for its proximity to south-east Asia and north-east India.
It shares international frontiers with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and is well-connected with the booming hubs of Asia such as Singapore,Thailand and Malaysia.
Its hinterland comprises mineral-rich states such as Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh. Endowed with naturally beautiful Himalayas, the Dooars, riverine delta of the Sundarbans and beaches assigns it an important spot on the tourism map of India.
The state boasts of the third largest road network of the country – of more than 3.15 lakh km.It enjoys natural maritime advantages – 950km of waterfront. It has two international airports – Kolkata and Bagdogra allowing air connectivity.
New airport in Andal has potential for becoming a major hub, as it is located in the State’s mineral-rich zone. The state is also leading in the country in terms of spread, density and reach of National Inland Waterways. About 4,000km of railway tracks and 2nd largest Metro Rail network carry the workforce of the state as well as allows easy connectivity for millions of people of the state.
West Bengal is also a significant part of India's growth story. Largest in India in power distribution, quality and availability India’s highest bank credit flow to MSMEs.
In order to facilitate businesses, time-bound delivery of services have been enacted under Right to Public Services Act. The single-window system for business enacted through Single Window Act, Self-declaration and self-clarification and no clearance or consent required for industries under ‘White’ and ‘exempted’ categories have been major steps in creating a business-friendly environment.
Industry Facilitation Centre (IFC) in every district, simplification of process or procedures – decentralisation and reduced documentation are other steps taken for ease of doing business.
UNI SJC KK

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