Bengal Global Business Summit 2022 signals hope for recovery from global slump

After a two-year gap, the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) is back on track, and indications are that it is likely to host some of the country’s biggest captains of industry, apart from a host of delegates from various countries.

To be held on April 20 and 21, that is tomorrow and day after, the summit is reportedly bringing together the likes of mining baron Gautam Adani, Hindustan Unilever MD and CEO and FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) president Sanjiv Mehta, Aditya Birla group chairman Kumarmangalam Birla, SBI chairman Dinesh Khara, Mahindra & Mahindra CEO and MD Anish Shah, JSW group chairman Sajjan Jindal, Indian Metal & Ferro Alloy MD S.K. Panda, ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri, TCG group chairman Purnendu Chatterjee, Great Eastern Energy chairman and former FICCI president Y.K. Modi, RP-SG group chairman Sanjiv Goenka, Universal Success chairman Prasoon Mukherjee and Advenz group chairman Saroj Poddar.

A notable outcome of BGBS 2019 were state-to-state partnerships signed between the Government of West Bengal and Italy’s Lombardy Regional province, Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Republic of Korea’s Jeollanam Do province, for mutual development in industry, infrastructure, education and skill.

Among the highlights of the state’s economic performance to be showcased at BGBS are the 12.6 percent growth in West Bengal’s GDP from 2015-16 to 2020-21, a three-fold increase from Rs 4.61 lakh crore to Rs 14.44 lakh crore; and the 1.2 percent growth in GSDP against a national decline of -6.6 percent. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s 2020-21 report, West Bengal ranked first in the growth of per capita net state domestic product. The state also has the second highest number, or 14 percent, of MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) in India, of which 21.25 percent are manufacturing enterprises, the highest in the country.

Conceptualised in 2015, primarily as an international platform to showcase investment possibilities in Bengal, BGBS has taken on board two prestigious business partners for the first time in its sixth edition. The two are FICCI and CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). While FICCI has been partnering BGBS since its inception, CII makes its debut this year. There will also be four knowledge partners - KPMG, PwC, E&Y and Crisil. 

The last edition of BGBS was held in February 2019, and earlier editions have hosted such prominent names as former President the late Pranab Mukherjee, former Union Finance Minister the late Arun Jaitley, Mukesh Ambani, L.N. Mittal, Swraj Paul, and Pawan Munjal. At the 2019 edition, which saw participation from 12 partner countries and more than 450 delegates from 35 countries, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that the summit would henceforth be a biennial event, though the Covid-19 pandemic came in the way in 2021.

BGBS 2022 will also feature 14 partner countries, and 40 participating nations. Among the partner countries are Japan, UK, Germany, Italy, Australia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malaysia, Norway and Finland.

A notable outcome of BGBS 2019 were state-to-state partnerships signed between the Government of West Bengal and Italy’s Lombardy Regional province, Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Republic of Korea’s Jeollanam Do province, for mutual development in industry, infrastructure, education and skill. Among the major multinationals present at BGBS 2019 were Alstom, Accor, DP World, IKEA, Capgemini, Decathlon, Schneider Electric, Oerlikon, Metro, Sharaf Group, IBM, Dell, BT, and P&G.

Among the highlights of the state’s economic performance to be showcased at BGBS are the 12.6 percent growth in West Bengal’s GDP from 2015-16 to 2020-21, a three-fold increase from Rs 4.61 lakh crore to Rs 14.44 lakh crore; and the 1.2 percent growth in GSDP against a national decline of -6.6 percent. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s 2020-21 report, West Bengal ranked first in the growth of per capita net state domestic product.

Former State Finance Minister Amit Mitra had said that investment proposals worth Rs 12.3 lakh crore were received between BGBS 2015 and 2019, and the majority of the proposals were in the process of being implemented. As the world gradually attempts to recover from the economic slump brought on by Covid, the hopes from BGBS 2022 are expectedly high.