JEDDAH, 16 September 2006 — Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan yesterday announced his government’s plan to establish an investment company to mobilize funds of expatriate workers from the state for constructive projects.
In an interview with Arab News, the chief minister also emphasized the government’s move to make Kerala an investment-friendly state. “The government is looking at developing the state as a major destination for free and open-source-based IT industries,” said Achuthanandan, whose Left Democratic Front coalition swept state assembly elections in May.
“A company will be formed to initiate fund mobilization from NRKs (Non-Resident Keralites) and the fund will be utilized in constructive projects,” the chief minister said. NRKs contribute 200 billion rupees ($4.3 billion) to state coffers annually.
Referring to the issue of growing cost of air travel, Achuthanandan said the state government had taken steps to hold talks with public and private airline companies operating in the Gulf to bring down the fare for NRKs traveling to and from the region, which is host to 2.5 million Keralite guest-worker population.
“Kerala has proposed a flagship airline company under the state government and we are continuing our efforts to realize this project. It may take some time to achieve the goal,” the chief minister said.
He reaffirmed the government’s resolve to address issues affecting Gulf Malayalees, adding that his government would provide legal assistance to NRKs in trouble. Achuthanandan pointed out that state allocations have been made to meet the expenses of transporting bodies of Keralites or those who are deported after serving jail terms.
“We are planning to open offices of NORKA (the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs department) in all GCC countries,” he said.
He emphasized the government’s plan to reconstitute NORKA-ROOTS, a company under NORKA. NORKA was set up by the government to ensure the welfare of NRKs, redressing their grievances and safeguarding their rights. Speaking about his government’s efforts to woo domestic and foreign investment, Achuthanandan said it would soon introduce a single-window operation system to minimize formalities.
“The government has already obtained several investment proposals,” he pointed out. “We have started working on evaluating each of them and taking steps to carry out those projects that are beneficial to the state.”
The chief minister said discussions with Dubai Internet City Group were progressing well and expected a mutually beneficial deal within a couple of weeks. “Discussions with Dubai Internet City have shown that Kerala can reach better investment deals through strong negotiations,” he said. “More investment projects are in the pipeline.”
Achuthanandan was bullish about Kerala’s potentials as a tourist destination. “We expect an investment of at least 10 billion rupees ($216.8 million) in this sector within a short span of time,” he added.
Before going aggressively for investments in the information technology sector, the government wanted to set out a clear policy on the matter, he said.
The chief minister invited Microsoft to invest in Kerala. “Microsoft is selling lot of its products in Kerala,” he said. “As one of the largest IT companies in the world, we welcome Microsoft to invest in Kerala so that state and the company are mutually benefited.”
He said his government would promote knowledge-intensive IT businesses in the state. He disclosed plans to enhance the skills of employees in the state to encourage the growth of jobs in the business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector that has become a major employer in other parts of India, such as in Bangalore.
He said his state’s policy is to bring right balance among different employment sectors — specifically in information technology, research and development and BPO — but he pointed out that BPO, which includes outsourced customer-service jobs from companies based abroad, would not help Kerala’s long-term development.
