Nobel laureate to attend investment conference

TRIVANDRUM: Joseph Stiglitz, the US economics Nobel laureate, will be among the speakers at Kerala Looks Ahead (KLA) conference being organised by the state’s planners.

The three-day conference that begins on Feb.1 aims at “sending a clear message to the world that Kerala is keen to atract huge investments” from within and abroad.

Kerala State Planning Board, the organisers, said it will “showcase a broad range of the state’s robust and resilient industry.”

It expects “a formidable line-up of business leaders, industry captains and other stakeholders” to tune into the online conference.

Besides showcasing the ease of doing business backed by a string of policy interventions, Kerala will also strive to modernise the critical sectors of its economy.

Prof Myungjae Moon, director of Institute for Future Government Studies, Yonsei University, will speak on South Korean experience in promoting industrial development and the economic growth possibilities for Kerala in the emerging global order.

Along with Prof Joseph Stiglitz and World Health Organisation ( WHO) chief scientist, Dr Soumya Swaminathan will atend the conference on the opening day.

A special industry session will also be held on the concluding day on Feb.3. People can simply log in to www.keralalooksahead.com and participate.

Planning board vice-chair, drvk ra mac hand ran, said Kerala provides competitive advantages to develop a cluster of industries.

He cited the Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s (BPCL) recent investment of Rs 165 billion in the integrated refinery expansion project in the port city of Kochi.

“It provides an opportunity to develop the petrochemical industrial complex in Kochi,” he said.

“Developing a comprehensive roadmap for the Kochi-coimbatore industrial corridor will also be of immense value.”

Dr Venu Vasudevan, senior bureaucrat and member secretary of the Planning Board, said Kerala would seek to learn from the best practices in a range of industries.