It is essential to keep investor sentiments intact in business investments in any region. Steps should be taken to prevent untoward incidents such the July 28 attack on youths in Mangalore.
These views were expressed at a meeting of prominent citizens of Mangalore under the banner of ‘Arise Mangalore’ on Sunday.
Knowledge economy
Naren K., chief executive officer of i-Point Consulting Pvt Ltd, said Mangalore’s economy is bound to grow on knowledge economy in the coming days.
The IT companies, which were set up by small entrepreneurs, with 50-60 people are growing in the city. Mangalore has all the facilities for the growth of such enterprises. The window of opportunity available in this sector will go away if the society is prone to such untoward incidents, he said.
It is now time for the citizens to put pressure on the authorities concerned to prevent any such untoward incidents in future, Naren said. Coming together of like-minded people should happen in this regard, he added.
Brand Mangalore
Lata Kini, former president of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that business in any region is driven by sentiments.
Brand Mangalore has been built painstakingly by elders, and such untoward incidents will have an impact on investments, she said.
N. Vinay Hegde, Chancellor of Nitte University, said youths should be seen assets to society and not as liabilities. Strict action should be initiated against those youths who attacked another group of youths, he said.
“If you cannot confront such things, we will be a backward country,” he said.
Apprehensions
Quoting his recent experience, Walter D’Souza, chairman of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Southern Region), said that one of the foreign investors who visited Mangalore recently had expressed apprehensions about the city. Either nip it (anti-social elements) in the bud or uproot it, he said.
Ajay Kamath, convenor of the event, said that ‘Arise Mangalore’ is a platform to voice against the July 28 act of hooliganism in Mangalore.