Kerala Meet: Government to hold talks with NRKs

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around 250 selected Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) will come under one roof to understand the possible investment opportunities in Kerala, which, in turn, can lead to signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the Emerging Kerala meet. Before the Emerging Kerala meet, scheduled to be held next year in Kochi, the government is making all possible efforts to ensure that the MoUs will be signed when these NRKs reach for the mega event. The meet of NRKs will be held here on December 29 and 30. The discussion with the NRKs is being organised by the Department of Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs (Norka) and Norka-Roots which will be a follow-up of the meet held in Kochi in 2008. It will be a platform for the NRKs to interact with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy which will be similar to the mass contact programme being conducted in all the districts. According to Norka Secretary Manoj Kumar various issues being faced by the NRKs abroad and emerging trends in the industry will come up for discussion. Various investment promotion agencies of the state such as KSIDC, KFC, INKEL, Technopark, Kinfra, KITCO, SBT and Federal Bank will showcase the investment opportunities before them. ‘’This meet will be a base for the proposed Emerging Kerala programme which will make identifying the projects easier. The NRK meet will help  clear all their doubts about investing for a project in Kerala,’’ he said.The 250-odd NRKs will be from all walks of life and can make large and small investments. The scope for investments in small and medium-scale industries will be given more focus considering the previous experience when the NRKs shown keen interest in this sector. Norka is providing a platform for these people to understand the industrial prospectus in Kerala. This will be a continuing process so that NRKs will be convinced about the friendly industrial atmosphere prevailing in the State.Manoj Kumar said that several NRKs had started small ventures in the state which turned out to be successful. IT and tourism sectors seen investments from NRKs in the past and it will continue with the conduct of the NRK meet.