J&K Global Investors Summit To Be Held In Srinagar From Oct. 12

Seeking to woo businesses to Jammu & Kashmir after scrapping of Article 370, the state administration on Tuesday announced a three-day global investors summit to be held in Srinagar from Oct. 12.

The J&K investor summit will provide the state an opportunity to showcase its business strengths, strategies and potential, Principal Secretary (Industries) Naveen Choudhary told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. It will also provide an opportunity to allay fears and apprehensions in the minds of outside trade and business community, he added.

The Jammu & Kashmir Governor will launch road shows in the country and abroad to attract potential investors.

The official said that road shows are planned in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. Such promotional events will also be organised in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, the Netherlands, Singapore and Malaysia.

The objective is to sensitise potential investors regarding the opportunities available as well as support and incentives to be provided by the state government, he said.

Over 2,000 people, including top industrialists and representatives of business groups, will be invited. Senior ministers in the Union government and bureaucrats are expected to attend the meet.

"Despite the short time available, the state government machinery will be working hard to make the summit a success", he said.

The announcement comes a week after the Centre scrapped special status to Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. Among the reasons cited was that the provision had restricted the state's industrial growth and development.

Choudhary said that the state government will also organise ambassadors' meet and a media meet in New Delhi next month to ensure wider participation.

He said through the investors meet, trade and industry organisations will come to know firsthand about the business-friendly policies of the government, assess infrastructure, natural resources, raw material and skill and un-skilled manpower available and identify business opportunities in the state.

It will present immense opportunities to develop contacts between the state and business community and between local and outside business communities, he said.

Many prominent business groups have already shown keen interest and willingness for participation and making investment in the state, he added.

The state government has identified key sectors that include horticulture and post-harvest technologies, tourism and hospitality, film industry, IT & ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services), handloom & handicraft, agro and food-processing, manufacturing & MSME, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, skills and education, the Principal Secretary said.

The summit will provide opportunity for Business-to-Business and Business-to-Government meetings which will result in various investment tie-ups. Exhibitions will be held to showcase the opportunities the state can provide investors, he added.

Choudhary said that wide-ranging consultations have been held with various central ministries including the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, NITI Aayog, Home Ministry, and that they have committed full support for successful hosting of the Summit.

Invest India, an organisation promoted by the DPIIT, has been asked to cooperate with the state government, he said.

Jammu & Kashmir, which is currently under lockdown following the revocation of Article 370 in the state, will be split into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh on Oct. 31—in accordance with the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, passed by the Parliament earlier this month.

The bifurcation, the government says, will attract investments to the state long ravaged by terrorism emanating from across the border.