Team Herald
PANJIM: The CII Office Bearers met with the new Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and presented a Memorandum of the critical Policy Issues that CII is working on in association with the Government.
Speaking to the Herald, President of the Goa Chapter, Kirit Maganlal said the delegation met the CM to congratulate and to inform him about the progress made on the investment policy.
In the memorandum given to the CM the delegation urged the government to appoint the CEO for the Investment Promotion Board at the earliest and to speed up the task of providing suitable office infrastructure to take the Goa investment Promotion to the next level.
The Investment Promotion Board was set up earlier this year after the state government passed a law to that effect.
The CII was involved in the drafting of the Goa Aviation Hub Policy which now awaits Cabinet approval. CII has been facilitating advanced discussions with LCC operators such as Air Asia to begin their hub operations from Goa. The CII hoped the Government would approve it at the earliest so that the process of discussions with the LCC operators could commence. This would be a major boost for Tourism and trade connectivity to the State.
With regards to the MOPA airport the CII which is represented in the Task Force, they expressed their willingness to assist the Government in any way as desired to ensure that the progress as envisaged in the Implementation report to the Govt of Goa by KPMG is adhered to. Considering the enormous potential of the state the CII had suggested the need for a Logistics Policy. This policy will help connect all the modes of transport. The CII had recently hosted a Seminar to introduce and promote New Coastal feeder Services to Boost for Goa’s Container Trade from MPT to JNPT. The CII had then urged the Government to form a Task Force on the lines of the one formed for the Investment Policy, for identifying a Logistics Hub/ Terminal Policy for the State of Goa. CII along with other organizations can lead the way in providing the desired inputs for the same. Given the role that tourism played in the economy of the state the CII proposed a state level marketing committee for tourism with the state govt bringing in world class training professionals and certification agencies into Goa to sensitize all the stakeholders of tourism in Goa towards soft skills in tourism hospitality. This project is currently under the active consideration of the Department of Tourism, Govt of Goa. The budget envisaged at Rs 3 cr and aims to sensitize 25000 locals within a period of 5 years. With regards to the supply of power th state had experienced the sudden stoppage of power generation by Reliance Infra. Then the government had proactively worked with the CII and the affected industries to ensure that there was no disruption of services. The CII now proposes the government sets up a special committee to study the power requirements and the present transmission capacity of the State, specially in view of the demands that will accrue due to the expected investments from industry through the new Policy. The CII offered to lead the initiative and prepare a task report. On the crucial subject of skills development the CII along with the National Skills Development Corporation had submitted a detailed report to the Govt of Goa on the Skills Gap Study undertaken by the NSDC last year. It was also proposed by the NSDC at a recent interaction with the GoG to create Sector Skills Councils in the State to align the State’s Skill Development Initiatives with the National Occupational Standards of the NSDC. Since Skills Development is a critical area of growth for the State’s economic performance, CII proposes to the Govt of Goa to empower it to coordinate with the NSDC and bring in their National expertise on skilling the Goan youth on employability factors for the benefit of trade and industry in the State.
The CII hoped these issues would be tackled at the earliest to ensure that future development would benefit the people of the state.
