After Covid outbreak, Odisha to hold first in-person business summit today

BHUBANESWAR: The stage is set for a business conclave to be organised by the state government here on Thursday. The objective of the meet, the first major in-person summit since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last year, is to attract investors from Japan.
Japan’s ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki, Union foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, top Japan diplomats and representatives of Japanese companies in India will be present in the meeting, apart from senior officials of the state government like chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra. The Union foreign secretary is also scheduled to meet CM Naveen Patnaik in the evening, officials said. “We will focus on drawing Japanese investments in the steel downstream and chemical sectors. We are expecting more investments from Japan in the days to come,” industries secretary Hemant Sharma told TOI. A senior government official said several investors from Japan, especially in the steel, downstream and chemical sectors have been looking for business opportunities in India.

Given the conducive atmosphere for the growth of the steel industries in Odisha, the state government is pulling out all stops to woo them. The tentative agenda of the seminar said it would start with a brief note on the investment opportunities in Odisha followed by a presentation on the business ecosystem in the state by the industries secretary.
Yoji Taguchi, CMD of Mitsubishi Corporation India Pvt Ltd and Shusuke Suto, MD of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries India Pvt Ltd, among other investors from the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’, have confirmed their participation in the meeting. Apart from them, Yasuyuki Murahashi, chief director general, Japan External Trade Organization (India) will join the meeting virtually.
Top executives of companies like Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel, TRL Krosaki, Indo Nissin and JSW, who have already invested in Odisha over the years, are also likely to join the seminar.
Odisha has already seen a foray of Japanese investors into the state. While Japanese food processing giant Indo Nissin has set up its plant in Khurda and is mulling the expansion of its unit, Japanese steel maker Nippon Steel has formed a joint venture for investment in the state, including a steel plant in Kendrapada, and a riverine jetty at Udayabata in Jagatsinghpur district.
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