BHUBANESWAR: Naveen Patnaik will address an investors’ meet overseas for the first time since becoming the chief minister in 2000, during which he will showcase Odisha as an industry-friendly destination in Dubai on Wednesday.
Preparations are in the final stages for the Odisha Investors’ Meet 2022 followed by an interactive session between Naveen and non-resident Odias living in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, for which a team has been working painstakingly for some months, government insiders said. Giant hoardings have been placed along the roads in Dubai highlighting the mega event.
“The chief minister will share his thoughts on Odisha as an emerging investment destination in India and interact with the Odia diaspora to discuss the vast socio-economic development efforts that are converting the once agrarian economy into a thriving industrial one,” a government official said.
While Naveen travelled to Dubai from Rome late on Sunday, Odisha’s food supplies and consumer welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, senior BJD MLA Debi Prasad Mishra and some senior bureaucrats left for the UAE capital from Odisha on Monday.
Atanu, who was in Delhi to a board flight for Dubai, said, “We hope the business and cultural exchanges in Dubai will set a new milestone in the state’s growth,” the minister told TOI over phone.
Stating that Naveen’s interaction will highlight Odisha’s progress on the industrialisation front, FICCI senior vice-president and IMFA Group managing director Subhrakant Panda said, “The business ecosystem in the state is exceptional and I am sure investors will continue to make a beeline, as has been the case even during the pandemic.” FICCI is collaborating with Odisha for the investors meet. Panda is scheduled to fly to Dubai on Tuesday.