Kolkata: To attract foreign investment in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will go on a four-day visit to Italy and Germany in September.
Two apex chambers of commerce and industry from Germany have invited Banerjee to go with a business delegation, while the Mayor of Rome has invited her for a special reception, state finance minister Amit Mitra said.
The Chief Minister is already scheduled to attend the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa in Vatican City where the late Nobel laureate will be declared a saint on September 4. Rome’s first woman Mayor, Virginia Raggi, has invited Banerjee for a special reception during her visit to Vatican City where many top businessmen will be present, he said, adding, “It is a matter of pride for us.” BVMW, the German Association for Small and Medium sized Businesses, has written to Banerjee praising her government. It said under her leadership the state has made tremendous strides on the lines of global benchmarks to catalyse growth, Mitra said. Another organisation IHK, Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, have also invited the Chief Minister to visit them, he said. “Both of them have expressed interest and asked us to go with a delegation. We will go with a business and official delegation. Munich is a hub of auto ancillary products and our Chief Minister always wanted to go to a place where there is a big manufacturing centre,” Mitra said. In September, Banerjee and her delegation will spend two days in Rome and another two days in Germany. “There are 500 companies from the state which export to Germany while there are 200 companies from Germany are present in the state,” the finance minister said. In another development, KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) has shown interest in opening an office in Kolkata, he said. “KOTRA’s south Asia director Dong Seok Choi met WBIDC officials after which they have decided to open their first office in eastern India. This will help us bring more foreign investment in the state,” Mitra said. — PTI
