From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Oct 20: Investors from the Middle-Eastern countries under the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) have evinced keen interest to set up a world class Design District on the city outskirts besides coming here with various investment proposals.
Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister of IT, BT and ST, who returned after a successful four-day visit to take part in the Dubai Expo 2020, said a delegation of investors from the GCC countries like United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt have shown keen interest to invest in the State. GCC is a regional intergovernmental political and economic union comprising countries like the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Narayan said the proposed Rs 1,000 crore Design District will come up on 100 to 150 acre land.
``The proposed design district will be way ahead than the one in Dubai. Industrial designs of all kinds required for any sector will be done in the proposed design district,Dr Narayan said. The Minister said that a Bengaluru Design Festival will be held here.
The Minister visited the Dubai Design district to explore the Design, Art and technology ecosystem. Dr Narayan said that a delegation from the GCC countries will visit the State in November to sign several Memoranda of Understandings on various investment proposals.
Karnataka keen on Dubai as its Gateway Karnataka is confidant of broad basing its reach seeking investments into the State using Dubai as a gateway. ``Through Dubai, the Government of Karnataka intends to broad base its reach and strengthen its relationship with other GCC countries. During his interaction with potential investors including Indian diaspora, Dr Narayan stressed why Karnataka is the best destination for investment and trade by highlighting the ease of doing business and availability of skilled manpower besides a proactive government and a peaceful state.
He emphasized the States keenness to have start-ups offer solutions to UAE in sectors ranging from logistics to healthcare.
GII Office in Bengaluru Dr Narayan said that Gulf Islamic Investment (GII) plans to set up its office in Bengaluru to further strengthen the Indo-UAE investment ties. ``GII expressed an intent to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the State to set up its office in Bengaluru, Dr Narayan said. ``Karnataka is the perfect place to make investments as the State ensures ease of doing business and ranks among the top investor-friendly states in the country. This move will lead to more investments, trade and job creation in the State, he said.
GII plans to invest USD 500 million (Rs 3,500 crore) in India in the next three years. GII is also planning collaborations with Indian start-ups to boost their Middle East expansion plans. UAE can play a significant role in India's quest to become a USD 5 trillion economy, Dr Narayan said.
Start-ups Ecosystem
Investors from the Arab world are convinced that Karnataka is the best investment destination in the Country, Dr Narayan said adding that during his four-day stay in Dubai, he met several potential investors from various sectors ranging from healthcare to education and from logistics to food processing.
The entrepreneur and investment community in Dubai were highly appreciative of startups from Karnataka. ``They recognize the fact that these entrepreneurs have the right disposition and integrity. The business community in Dubai sees this as a significant factor for the success of start-ups,'' Dr Narayan said.
Investors from GCC also lauded the State for creating a good ecosystem in Bengaluru. ``A perfect mix of infrastructure, talent and a conducive Government willing to support
was well appreciated, the Minister said.
The government is also intends to collaborate with Health Verity, an online health education company registered in Dublin Ireland and having offices in Dubai and elsewhere in the world, the Minister said.
Investment Proposals:
During talks with Dr Narayan, several investors evinced interest to set up businesses here in Karnataka. Evolvence Group, an international investment firm, and Crescent Group, an investment company with diversified interests from logistics, power and engineering, food NS beverage have shown interest in investing in the State.
Aster DM Healthcare has expressed interest in expansion into tier 2 and 3 cities in Karnataka by setting up hospitals and healthcare centres in these areas.
Decker Halabi, a global advisory firm shown interest to set up a water theme park in Karnataka using technology intervention. They also proposed setting up structured funds.
PRISM (Promoting Regional Schools to International Standards through Multiple interventions) a foundation set up by Faizal Kottikollon of KEF is asked to explore possibility of setting up PRISM in Karnataka.
Meitra Hospitalis keen on setting up a world-class, hi-tech hospital in Bengaluru with robotic technology. Mubadala Investment Company to explore collaborations that invests in disruptive technologies in the areas of life science, medtech, cleantech and fintech.