After the ambitious Make in India Week, Mumbai will host another international summit, the BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave, on April 14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the event.
The three-day conclave of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is being touted as another opportunity for the city to showcase itself as an emerging international finance centre.
“When Prime Minister Modi travelled to Russia last year for the BRICS Summit, it was his idea to have such a conclave to understand and share ideas between Brics nations,” said Narinder Nayar, chairperson, Mumbai First, a think tank for Mumbai’s development, in an interview to The Hindu . “After Make In India Week, this will be the next big great opportunity for the city to show what it is capable of.” The event will be hosted jointly by Mumbai First, the State government and the Ministry of External Affairs. PriceWaterhouseCoopers has been roped in as the knowledge partner.
Delegations representing at least two cities from each BRICS country will visit Mumbai during April 14-16, and discuss aspects of urbanisation for Mumbai.
“The conclave will discuss big challenges like urban mobility, water and waste management, governance, and Mumbai will get a chance to see the best practices which other global cities are using to learn from them. Who is governing Mumbai? No one. We can learn from governance models from some of these cities. Mumbai generates over 9000 tonnes of municipal waste every day. We can learn from what these cities do,” Mr Nayar said.
Mumbai First CEO and the BRICS conclave project head Shishir Joshi added, “This will be the first major event after India’s took over BRICS presidency from Russia in February. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate it. A Special BRICS 2016 stamp cover will also be released.”
National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) will be the venue for the inauguration on April 14, and the discussions would be held at the Hotel Trident. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Lord Jim O Neill, commercial secretary, to the UK Treasurywill attend.
The conclave will feature Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India Rakesh Mohan, Lord O Neill, KV Kamath, chairman of the New Development Bank initiated by BRICS, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The conclave will showcase models like Brazil’s Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life), a successful affordable housing programme which has improved the quality of life for low income families, India’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, China’s experiments with solar energy, urban transportation models of Sao Paolo, Johannesburg, and Moscow among others.
A discussion on renewal of sub-city areas will feature the Bandra Kurla Complex, East London, Jurong in Singapore, Kennedy Town in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Johannesburg, etc. The conclave will also have a special session involving the industry, and Mumbai Mayor Snehal Ambekar will chair a session consisting mayors of all cities.
In his letter inviting Prime Minister to inaugurate the Brics summit, Fadnavis said, “Announcement of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS Bank bears testimony to the strides in a developing political, economic and social ties among the countries including India.
“Mumbai being a commercial capital of India and best example of development, connectivity, infrastructure and variety of culture, Mumbai First has selected the city to hold a summit of BRICS cities.”
