CM vows to make State investor-friendly

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 7. The Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony, has said the UDF Government is determined to make the State investor-friendly and to accord top priority to the IT sector in the coming years.

Addressing the chief executive officers of various companies housed in the Technopark at a felicitation organised in his honour by the Technopark and G-Tech Group of Companies here today, Mr. Antony said "it is difficult to convince all of you in the beginning, but we are determined to create an investor- friendly climate in the State."

The Chief Minister said the Government is preparing a policy package for the IT industry and a plan for providing massive training for IT personnel in the State. A series of technical institutes, including engineering colleges, will be set up in the State to train IT professionals. Courses in Master of Computer Applications will be started in the colleges, he said.

The UDF Government is also preparing a massive plan for infrastructure development in the State. The talks with the Asian Development Bank is in the final stages. Soon, the State will have a series of Built-Operate-Transfer projects and it will be a solution for building up the necessary infrastructure, he said.

Mr. Antony said the local telecom authorities have

expressed readiness for providing the long pending demand of the IT companies for an optic fibre link from Kochi to the Technopark. "Soon the optic fibre link will be a reality," he added.

On apprehensions raised by the heads of the companies about the Government move to start a Technopark at Kochi, Mr. Antony said that for the development of IT sector in the State in the days ahead, it cannot be confined to the State capital alone.

"I understand the apprehensions raised from the industry whether the proposed Technopark at Kochi will diminish the importance of the Technopark here. This is not the end of it. We will have a park in the Malabar region. The Technopark in the capital will be the mother park and the Government will accord due priority and attention to it," he said.

The Chief Minister said the Government is exploring avenues for finding a solution to the rising unemployment problem and for attaining rapid economic development in the State. The Government is chalking out programmes for attaining the goal and the IT sector can help the State very much in this endeavor.

The Minister for Information Technology and Industries, Mr. P.K. Kunhalikutty, who was also felicitated on the occasion, said the proposed package for the IT industry to be announced soon will have a lot of incentives, awards for best performers and steps for healthy competition in market. He said the Government is determined to make Kerala competitive to other States which are ahead of us now.

The president of G-Tech, Mr. Ajit Nambisan, in his presentation said the Government should take steps to complete the unfinished NH bypass, check traffic congestion, end interference harassment by labour unions, regulatory agencies such as Sales Tax and to create social infrastructure.

A presentation on the occasion said 5,000 personnel were directly employed and 3,000 indirectly by the Technopark here. A total of Rs. 350 crores investment has been made already, 80 per cent of Kerala's software exports takes place from the Technopark and the inflow to the economy is Rs. 200 crores.

The potential exports from the Technopark is expected to touch Rs. 1,500 crores by the year 2010. For this, synergising the efforts of the IT companies, bureaucrats, political leadership and media was needed along with sustained and aggressive marketing and investor-friendly climate in the State.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Technopark, Mr. Rajiv Vasudevan, and Mr. Nambisan presented mementos to Mr. Antony and Mr. Kunhalikutty. The Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr. Gopal Krishna Pillai, and the IT Secretary, Ms. Aruna Sundarrajan, were present.

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