The announcement of the second edition of Global Investors Meet (GIM) comes at a time when the State’s investment climate is not so encouraging and foreign direct investment has fallen by over 50%.
Tamil Nadu received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $2.21 billion during April to March 2016-17, when compared to $4.52 billion in 2015-16.
Industrialists with whom The Hindu spoke to said that before commencing work for the next edition of GIM, the State government should clean up several issues and have open discussions on what can be done.
They also pointed out that there is a perception among investors that the State is ‘corrupt’ and huge bribes are being demanded for moving files, and this image should change is what they opined.
A senior industrialist from a manufacturing firm, said, “Chennai is now saturated, so the government needs to identify new places and promote them. We lag behind when it comes to branding and marketing Tamil Nadu. Social media promotions should be strengthened. A few lessons from the States which have done excellent promotional work will be of help,” he added.
The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) said competitive investor meets in different States provide an opportunity to look inward and set our house in order.
“This is the right time to review the outcome of the last GIM and understand if some course corrections are required before the next one, to make GIM 2019 more meaningful. GIM should encourage not only global investors to look to Tamil Nadu, but also the local investors to gain more confidence to expand their base in the State,” said Ram Venkataramani, president of MCCI.
Unkept promises
Industrialists expressed concern that there were several unkept promises. On of them pointed out that during the valedictory of the first edition of GIM, the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, had announced that her government would come out with pragmatic far-sighted policies in various sectors like Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services, Textiles, MSME and Electronic Hardware Manufacturing and Aerospace and Defence Production, but nothing came out in black and white till date.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said that GIM announcement had come at the right time. Its president P.Ravichandran, said that it should focus on branding Tamil Nadu’s competitive advantages in infrastructure, skills, talent pool and how the State has become one of the top three manufacturing / IT power houses of India. He also suggested that the State should restart the Nokia plant and attract investors in the electronic manufacturing space.
According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), attracting investments in renewable energy, superior battery technology and aerospace fields is imperative. “In addition, we feel its important for the government to continue to improve on the infrastructure including effective roads, expanded Chennai airport along with increasing facilities in Coimbatore-Madurai-Trichy and effective water management,” said Ar. Rm. Arun, Chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council.
Some industrialists suggested that the government work on relaying roads before they start their campaign for GIM and rectify the faults at the Chennai airport. “Connectivity to tier-2 and tier 3 towns should be the focus as they are the next venue for industrial growth in the State.
