Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jul 07, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jul 07, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Events Columns - Random Walk Quite a clip? K.G. Kumar
THINK global, act local - that seems to be the idea behind the recent announcement of the proposed Local Investor Meet (LIM) to be held in Kozhikode in March 2004.The meet, being organised jointly by the District Panchayat, District Industries Centre, Small Industries Association and Calicut Industrial Trust with the help of the district administration, has since been renamed as the Kozhikode Local Investor Promotion (KLIP) meet. Call it what you will - LIM or KLIP - the intention appears to be clear: Industrialise or perish. That may well be a message that precedes the Global Investor Meet (GIM), held with great fanfare at Kochi earlier this year. But GIM clearly reinforced the principal message of seeking industrial investments as a solution to Kerala's twin problems of unemployment and stagnation. Now, if the Kozhikode effort is any indication, the message seems to have trickled down to the district level. The authorities behind the exercise expect a minimum of 600 investors to take part in the meet. "We expect the setting up of 100 industrial units, each investing a minimum amount of Rs 5 lakh in the first year after the meet. This would create 10,000 new jobs," the Kozhikode District Collector, Mr T.O. Sooraj, has been quoted as saying. KLIP intends to accord priority to eco-friendly projects, which will consume only meagre resources, including land and electricity. At present, in Kozhikode district, 20 per cent of the total of 17,000 small-scale industrial units are either closed or on the verge of closure. Hence, KLIP will seek to promote the traditional industries and try and revive sick units. Meanwhile, the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, the State's leading business and trade lobby, with its headquarters in Kozhikode, is planning a 30-minute television programme on a private channel from next month onwards. To be titled `Vyapar Vision', the show will deal with business matters. The Samithi State president, Mr T. Naziruddeen, told reporters that the main aim of the programme would be to highlight the problems faced by the business community in the State and to also raise the profile of Kerala's business and business persons. It is significant that both these happenings - the proposed KLIP and the announcement of the business television show - should originate in Kozhikode, long ago a significant port for trade and commerce, and home to calico, the fine quality cotton that is said to have originated in this Malabar city. Kozhikode has since declined in industrial prowess, despite remaining an important centre for timber and boatbuilding. Its present outward signs of wealth and prosperity owe much to the remittances from Gulf Malayalees. In this context, local-level efforts to pull itself up by socks ought to be welcome. Whether KLIP-like exercises will work miracles for other districts as well, is something best left to professional soothsayers. Not doing anything, however, is hardly an option. The writer can be contacted at kg@tug.org.in
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