The Prime Minister
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the Global Investor Meet
at Kochi today. Shri Vajpayee emphasised the need to accelerate
economic growth and enhance the competitiveness of our industries
and business to global standards by providing a conducive climate
for investment. The Prime Minister reiterated the resolve to pursue
economic reforms as a long-term strategy, pointing out that the
Centre has never allowed political considerations to influence
its dealings with any State. Shri Vajpayee also pointed out that
removal of poverty, employment generation, environment protection
and social and gender justice continue to be the avowed objectives
of the Government. Union Minister of Labour, Shri Sahib Singh
Verma, Union Minister of Shipping, Shri Ved Prakash Goyal, Deputy
Chairman, Planning Commission, Shri K.C. Pant, Minister of State
for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Shri O. Rajagopal,
Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri A.K. Antony and Shri Mukesh Ambani,
Chairman, Reliance industries, were among those present on the
occasion.
Following is
the full text of the Prime Minister’s inaugural speech:
"Jaya Jaya Komala
Kerala Dharani
Ella Malayalikalkum
ente abhivadanam!
I have attended many
gatherings of investors and businessmen in Delhi and in other
States. But I am particularly pleased to be here today to inaugurate
Kerala’s first-ever Global Investor Meet. I see a new hope in
this for Kerala. And I see my confidence in India’s bright future
further reinforced.
I must thank your
Chief Minister, Shri A.K. Antony, for inviting me to this conference.
I have known Mr. Antony for many years. I have always admired
him for his simplicity and gentleness. After he has become your
Chief Minister, I now also admire him for his zeal for reforms
and change as a way to ensure acceleration of Kerala’s all-round
development. This Global Investor Meet is a testimony to this
commitment.
Kerala has always
fascinated me. This strip of verdant land between the blue sea
and green mountains has a richness that is divine to any eye.
No wonder that even the predecessor government, whatever their
views on matters godly, chose to continue to project Kerala to
the outside world as "God's Own Country".
I see Kerala’s greatness
in the gopurams of its temples, the spires of its churches, and
the domes of its mosques. I am filled with awe when I think of
the young boy from Kaladi, Sankara, who travelled all the way
to Kashmir and Kedarnath and illumined the entire Bharat with
his intellectual brilliance. What a glorious tradition of peace,
harmony and social reform you have inherited. What a progressive
spirit your State has breathed down the ages. One of the first
ever satyagrahas in India for temple entry for lower caste Hindus
was organized in Kerala. Some of the inspiring chapters in the
struggle for social equality and workers’ rights were written
in Kerala.
Kerala has never
lived only for itself. It has always lived for India. Your poet
laureate, Mahakavi Vallathol wrote and I quote:
Bharatam Ennaperu
Kettalabhimana
Puritaamakanam
Antharangam
Keralamennperu
Kettal Thilakkanam
Chora Namukku
Njerampukalil
(When we hear the
name Bharatam, our hearts should be filled with pride,
When we hear
the name Keralam, blood should surge in our veins with pride.)
Kerala has never
been inward-looking. It has always looked and forayed beyond its
shores. Your Mahakavi Pala Narayanan Nair sang:
‘Keralam Valarunnu
Pashchima Ghattangale
Keriyum Kadannum Chennanayum
Desangalil’
(Kerala grows crossing
the Western Ghats And reaches far corners of the world.)
This is not mere
poetry. It is the reality of life in Kerala. I am amazed to know
that as many as 25 lakh people from Kerala are working in different
parts of the world, mostly in Gulf countries. Three times that
number work in other parts of India. Nearly half of the Rs. 55,000
crore remittances from NRIs so far have come from your emigrant
brothers and sisters, working as technicians, nurses, teachers
and in scores of other professions.
Not only Kerala,
but India too has been enriched by them. Not only Kerala, but
India as a whole has earned praise for their talent and hard work.
Friends, let
me, however, confess that I am equally amazed at another feature
of contemporary Kerala. On the one hand, your State has perhaps
the oldest and the strongest links with the global community.
On the other, it sometimes exhibits a strange tendency to ignore
the winds of change in the global as well as the national economy.
On the one hand,
people from Kerala have shown exemplary entrepreneurship whenever
they have ventured out in other parts of India and the world.
On the other, they do not feel inspired to invest in Kerala itself
to start industrial and business ventures, and create wealth and
employment opportunities here.
There is an impression
that Kerala does not offer a business-friendly climate, either
for outside investors or even for its own entrepreneurs. It is
seen as a good place to sell goods because there are many people
with high incomes, but not as a good place to set up industrial
and other business ventures.
I am told that there
is a Malayalam movie called "Varavelppu" in which your
famous actor Mohan Lal acts as a Gulf-returned Keralite. He invests
his savings in a small business venture with high hopes. But in
the end, he is forced to close it down after going through many
unpleasant experiences.
Therefore, this conference
should serve as an occasion for introspection.
- Why is it that Kerala, in spite
of its exemplary record in social development, has lagged behind
in economic development?
- In spite of possessing rich and
abundant natural resources, why is the rate of unemployment
in Kerala almost three times higher than the national average?
- If the State’s rate of economic
growth remains low, how can it sustain its widely and rightly
acclaimed "Kerala Model" in health, education, women’s
empowerment and other social indicators?
- Will – and should – future generations
be deprived of these benefits because of the present generation’s
resistance to change?
I am not the only
one having these concerns. Many renowned economists and intellectuals
from Kerala, and Kerala’s well-wishers outside, have been asking
these very questions.
I have heard Keralites
from all walks of life, and especially those working outside,
saying that the State now needs to look ahead, and not remain
trapped in outdated dogmas and sterile ideological debates. I
have heard them asking themselves a recurrent question: "While
workers’ interests should certainly be protected, is it in the
workers’ interest or the State’s interest to discourage investors
through frequent strikes, gheraos and attimari? Shouldn’t we unload
this historical burden from our heads and build a New Kerala?"
It is not for outsiders
to answer this question for you. You have to answer it yourselves.
I am happy to note
that Kerala has already started to indicate what that answer would
be. Right here in Kochi, you have built, through privately raised
funds from mainly your own people, the most attractive airport
in the country. You have set up a large Information Technology
park. NASSCOM has recently ranked this city as the second most
competitive destination in the country for IT-enabled services,
which can create tens of thousands of employment opportunities
for our educated youth.
And what can I say
about your highly successful tourism promotion campaign? Just
this, that it has motivated several other States to emulate you.
I can tell you that it even motivated me to choose the scenic
backwaters of Kumarakom for spending my year-end holidays two
years ago.
Today I would like
to assure you that the Centre is willing to fully stand by you
in your process of change and reform. Our track record of the
past nearly five years testifies to the fact that the Centre has
never allowed political considerations to influence our dealings
with any State. Over the next few years, Kerala will see Central
investments of over Rs. 10,000 crore in projects of PSUs like
the capacity expansion of NTPC’s power station at Kayamkulam;
upgradation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s Kochi Refinery;
and mineral exploration jointly by NMDC and Indian Rare Earths
Limited.
Vallarpadam International
Container Terminal has been a longstanding demand of your State.
I am happy that all the hurdles in this highly promising project
have been finally removed and work would commence within the next
few months.
In addition to these
Central Government investments, Kerala has the potential to absorb
huge private and foreign investments in sectors that have already
been identified by the State Government. This conference provides
the right platform for investors to take a close look at these
opportunities and firm up their investment plans. Wherever there
is an interface with the Central Government, rest assured that
you will receive every kind of assistance, facilitation and support.
Friends, the
path of economic reforms that we have embarked upon in India is
not a matter of short-term expediency. On the contrary, it is
the outcome of a well-considered long-term strategy to tap our
immense resources and the talents of our people in order to realize
our goal of a better life for all our citizens. Let there be no
doubt that our objectives continue to be the removal of poverty,
employment generation, environmental protection, and social and
gender justice. To achieve these objectives, we must accelerate
economic growth. The key to this is enhancing the competitiveness
of our industries and business to global standards, by providing
a conducive investment climate.
Wherever I go in
India these days, I see a sense of urgency among the people to
achieve faster and more balanced development. It is now for the
political and governing establishment to reflect this sense of
urgency in everything we do. I, therefore, invite you to participate
in this endeavour in partnership with the Centre, so that we all
move together towards creating a more prosperous, equitable and
vibrant India, benefiting all sections of our diverse society,
and especially the poor and the underprivileged.
Before I conclude,
I would like all the domestic and foreign investors to share my
great faith in the resilience of Keralites. They have proved time
and again that they have the grit to survive against all odds.
I can see a new mindset getting formed, a new mental churning
taking place in Kerala. There is now a burning desire in the hearts
and minds of many Keralites to make up for the lost time. And
that desire is gaining critical mass. Therefore, I am confident
that this conference, at which the esteemed Leader of the Opposition
is also present, will be a precursor to many more positive changes
to come, many more bold initiatives to be adopted.
I can already see
that in the near future, Kochi will create the same business buzz
nationally and globally as Bangalore and Hyderabad have done in
recent years. And that a new and revitalized Kerala will emerge
as yet another powerhouse of prosperity and all-round progress
for the benefit of all the people of this wonderful State as well
as our great country.
Thank you."