On the eve of the formal inauguration of the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit at Gandhinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with several global CEOs and dignitaries, including the heads of Mozambique and Timor-Leste.
On Tuesday, Modi met Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, and discussed DP World’s plans to bolster investments in India. Ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat summit, DP World has already inked MoUs worth ₹24,000 crore with the Gujarat government.
Sanjay Mehrotra, president and Chief Executive Officer of Micron Technology; Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President of Suzuki Motor Corporation; and Keith Svendsen, CEO of APM Terminals, were also among the CEOs who held meetings with the Prime Minister.
Bilateral meetings
Some heads of State, including the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and the President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, were among those who held bilateral meetings with the PM. The Presidents of Mozambique and Timor-Leste later accompanied PM Modi to inaugurate the Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade Show 2024.
The leaders unveiled commemorative coins and stamps for the completion of 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. The trade show has about 1,000 odd exhibitors, but most of the large exhibits belong to Central and State PSUs.
Vibrant Gujarat Summit
PMis scheduled to inaugurate the three-day Vibrant Gujarat summit on Wednesday. Modi, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2003, started the State-sponsored summit to attract investments into Gujarat. Till January 3, the Gujarat government had inked 233 MoUs worth ₹10.31-lakh crore. The proposed investments promise to create 12.8 lakh new jobs in the state. The number of MoUs are expected to rise until the conclusion of the summit on January 12.
A number of cabinet ministers, including finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, are expected to present at the summit. Over 50 global CEOs are expected to participate in the summit. These include Edward Knight, Executive Vice Chairman, NASDAQ; Sanjay Gupta, Country Head and VP, Google India; Mukesh Ambani, CMD, Reliance Industries; Lakshmi Mittal, Executive Chairman, ArcelorMittal; and Uday Kotak, Founder and Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, among others.
Road Show
Later in the evening on Tuesday, PM participated in a road show along with the President of the UAE, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Ahmedabad city. The UAE has been a partner country for the summit since 2017. This year, Canada and the US does not figure in the list of partner countries for the event.