Industrialists should make a collective effort to “reinvent” the once world-famous brand of Kozhikode ‘Calico’ in different products, Saji Gopinath, professor of management from the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K), has said.
He was speaking at an interactive programme held here on Tuesday between small-scale industrialists and people’s representatives including district administrators and MLAs.
The need for using advanced technologies, ensuring sufficient support system, and want for policy change were emphasised at the programme, organised as a curtain raiser to the ‘Rising Kerala 2014’ event to be held under the aegis of the Kerala State Small Industries Association.
Dr. Gopinath, presented a comprehensive picture of the possibilities and challenges the State in general and the region in particular was facing in terms of industrial growth.
He urged the authorities as well as the investors to “seriously” take a look at why there was no “substantial investments” coming to the State despite being one of the best investment-friendly states, rated by even “the World Bank as the second best” in the country.
He said the “selection” of industry, which should be “efficiency-driven”, played an important role. Investors should try to start new units in parks or zones clearly specified for their kind while the authorities should make sure that the industrial parks did not remain a mere space.
“They should see to it that whatever promised is readily available there,” he said.
The lack of a proper branding and marketing infrastructure such as a trade centre or a convention centre in the city was rued by most of the industrialists, who gathered at the programme while the challenges faced by different sectors such as food production, clay-related industries and wood industries were aired by their representatives.
The need for strengthening the single window system for starting an industrial unit was strongly emphasised by majority of the participants.
People’s representatives, who attended the programme, promised to look into the demands put forward by the industrialists and investors. “We will further discuss the demand and promptly raise them in Assembly,” said K.K. Lathika, MLA.
District panchayat president K. Jameela, and MLAs A.K. Saseendran and Purushan Kadalundy among others attended the programme. Elamaram Karim, MLA, moderated the discussion.
