Vibrant Gujarat 2024: 1.3 Lakh Participants from 140 Countries

Gandhinagar, Jan 10 (PTI) About 1.3 lakh participants from 140 countries have registered for the 10th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, which has also emerged as a forum for discussions on global priorities and concerns, a senior government official said here.

VGGS 2024 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day.

SJ Haider, additional chief secretary of industries and mines department, said that 35 countries came onboard as partner nations for the three-day VGGS, up from 15 during the event in 2019.

Over 125 seminars and conferences have been organised as part of the Vibrant Gujarat summit and the pre-Vibrant events that preceded it, he said.

“Around 1.3 lakh representatives from 140 countries representing academia and industry have registered themselves as participants for the inaugural event as well as seminars and conferences that are being held as part of the VGGS. This proves how impressive and useful the platform has emerged,” the senior IAS officer said.

Even the number of partner countries has increased to 35 compared to 15 in 2019, he added.

“We do not invite every country to partner with us. This is done in consultation with the foreign ministry. Out of 40-45 countries that we approached, 35 agreed to partner with us. Many of these countries are taking special interest and have come here with proper preparation to hold serious discussions. The audience who have joined are serious and interested in quality discussions,” Haidar said.

The senior official said that Vibrant Gujarat is no longer just an event for business networking or strategic partnership but has emerged as a forum for global priorities and concerns and to discuss concepts like ‘Viksit Bharat' and ‘PM Gati Shakti'.

“It has emerged as a global platform in a true sense, and is benefiting the state in a big way,” Haidar told media persons.

The 125 seminars and conferences that have been organised during the event have witnessed quality discussions on business propositions of various kinds, he said.

Haidar said that the exact number of MoUs (memorandum of understanding) signed and the amount of investment they have pledged will be shared later, asserting that he is certain that of these investment intentions, most will be implemented on the ground.

The MoUs have been signed in different sectors, with the highest number of such documents inked in areas related to sustainability, green hydrogen and derivatives, renewable energy, circular economy, etc., he added.

The Gujarat government had earlier said that it has so far signed 234 MoUs proposing investments of Rs 10.31 lakh crore with a potential to generate around 13 lakh jobs.

The companies with which the MoUs have been signed are from sectors as diverse as electric vehicles, agro and food processing, automobiles, biotechnology, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, ports, education, engineering, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, industrial parks, IT-ITES, logistics, oil and gas, packaging, plastics, power, green hydrogen and renewable energy, it said.