Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged domestic and international industrialists to identify sectors where India can bolster its position through fresh development opportunities.
Marking 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Ahmedabad, PM Modi said the event has transformed into an institution, turning even more successful with each iteration. What was once a sapling, has now grown into a vast banyan tree, he added.
Recalling when the Vibrant Gujarat Summit had just been launched, it was ridiculed to be merely a branding event, Modi said the success of the event has proven that the event is turned out to be a bonding experience. In 2003, there were only a few hundred participants, but now the summit sees participation of over 40,000 individuals. Back in 2003, only a handful of countries were partners, while now over 135 countries actively participate in the summit. The prime minister recounted that there were hardly around 30 exhibitors back in the day, which has now grown to over 2,000 exhibitors.
Highlighting how much Gujarat has progressed in the past two decades, Prime Minister Modi said, “In the years leading up to 2001, Gujarat faced constant water scarcity, and after the devastating earthquakes, thousands of homes were damaged, leaving lakhs of people in distress and hardship. Not only this, the closure of Madhavpura Mercantile Bank and the subsequent impact on 133 cooperative banks added to the economic woes in Gujarat. The state's economic life was in turmoil.”
Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat at that time recalled his pledge that whatever the circumstances, he will take Gujarat out of this situation. "We were not just thinking about reconstruction, but were also planning for its future and we made the Vibrant Gujarat Summit the chief medium for this," he added.
The prime minister said that the aim behind starting the Vibrant Summit was to transform Gujarat into the driving force behind the nation's development, a vision that has now been realised.
Notably, one unique approach that the Vibrant Gujarat Summit took was inviting a developed nation as a partner country. The chief ministers of other states were also invited to participate in the summit and showcase the capabilities of their respective states.
The prime minister said that Gujarat is the largest exporter in India with a current transactional value of $2 billion…. “All thanks to the success of Vibrant Summit. Defence manufacturing will be a very big sector in the coming times,” he added.
In conclusion, the prime minister said that this is not the time to stop. “The next 20 years are more important than the last 20 years. When Vibrant Gujarat completes 40 years, India will not be far away from the centenary of its independence. This is the time when India will have to create a roadmap that will make it a developed and self-reliant nation by 2047,” he said.
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