Japan to be ‘country partner’ for Make in Odisha Conclave: CM Naveen Patnaik

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said that Japan will be the ‘country partner’ for the ‘Make in Odisha Conclave’ in November.

“We are pleased to have Japan as the country partner of the event. The partnership will provide a new impetus to the relations between Odisha and Japan, and open up varied sectors for collaboration,” Patnaik said.

A state delegation will also visit Tokyo later this month to pitch for investment opportunities in Odisha across six focus sectors like food processing and seafood, chemicals, plastics and petrochemicals, ancillary and downstream industries in the metal sector and electronic manufacturing.

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“Japan will be the only country partner for Make In Odisha Conclave, 2018, as we consciously desired focused engagement with a country to attract manufacturing investment.  Japanese investors such as Nissan and Krosaki have been operating in Odisha successfully for many years now,” Industries Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said.

He said the state government has identified 600 acres of land near Bhubaneswar, which can be developed as a multi-product park where companies from Japan can come and set up units.

The state government has also partnered with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the second edition of the Conclave, scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar from November 11 to 15.

The first edition of the event in 2016 was an “overwhelming success” with announcement of “more than Rs 2 lakh crore” of investment intent, Patnaik said.

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“Odisha has demonstrated its commitment to deliver projects on ground, which is reflected in the fact that out of these investment intents, close to 65 per cent projects are in various stages of approval and implementation,” he said.

State Bank of India (SBI) has agreed to be the banking partner for the Conclave, official sources said.