The Hindu Business Line : CII set to open another zonal office in Bengal

THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is opening its second zonal office in West Bengal in Siliguri, to strengthen the on-going interface with business and industry in the region.

Mr Ravi Poddar announced this here on Tuesday at his first press conference, after taking over as the new Chairman of CII, Eastern Region. He said the opening of the office was in line with CII's commitment to the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, at the recent `North Bengal Calling' meet on participation in the region's industrial development, particularly through the small and medium enterprises.

While the present focus on IT, retail etc., is good, the real thrust has to be on manufacturing.

Outlining the focus and work of CII under the current year's theme of `Sustainable growth in the East: Focus on SMEs', Mr Poddar said the aim is to promote a strong, consolidated and competitive SME base in the region.

This, he felt, would not only boost the local economy in rural centres, but also generate employment, promote entrepreneurship and drive innovation through local technology and products. CII is also planning to have in-depth discussions with trade unions, and as a first venture, it would be talking to Mr Kali Ghosh of the CITU.

He said the new focus on SMEs, however, would not take away anything from CII's current and existing initiatives of work across sectors such as services, knowledge, agro, IT, telecom, logistics, infrastructure and exports, among others.

The Chamber will continue to facilitate growth and competitiveness through its advisory and consultative processes, and also partner the State governments to jointly address the issues of perception amongst the investors' community, thereby promoting the region.

On CII-ER's foreign missions planned for the year, particularly to Bhutan, China, Thailand and Myanmar, Mr Poddar said two have been planned in June to China (Kunming on June 5-6) and Bangkok (June 8-10).

"We are planning to take a healthcare business mission to Myanmar to showcase the region's strengths in healthcare sector, and an SME delegation to Bangladesh.''

On the new programmes planned for 2005-06, he said there would a major one on real estate sector, with special focus on housing.

According to Mr Bhushen Raina, Managing Director of Tinplate Company Ltd, and Deputy Chairman, CII-ER, there would be road shows for broadbasing CII's membership in the new centres of growth in the eastern region. These, he felt, would help in expanding the Chamber's scope of work in new centres such as Kharagpur, Durgapur, Haldia, Balasore, Siliguri and Ranchi, among others.

Mr Biswadip Gupta, Chairman, CII West Bengal State Council, said business missions would be conducted to the districts for assessing the scope for growth in the rural economy. He felt this would also facilitate investment opportunities through link-ups of the local industry with national and international majors to create rural business hubs in the State.

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