Please indulge with me and picture this scenario for a minute. The municipal corporation of Ponda decides to hold an innovation and entrepreneurship international competition to attract entrepreneurs from all over the world to come and set-up their business in Ponda. They hold regional finals in 8 different parts of the world, including USA, UK, Canada, Israel, Australia, Germany, Singapore and Japan. The 10 best teams (2 from each sector) from each region are invited to Ponda to participate in the global finals, where each team is offered crores of rupees in prize money as initial start-up capital, land and building in the Ponda International Industrial and Technology Park, accommodation for up to 20 people per business and they are also introduced to the top 100 venture capitalists from all over India, right here in Ponda.
Officials from all levels of Government like the Ponda municipality, Ponda Taluka and the Goa Government are present and available to answer any and all questions regarding regulations, permissions and business licences and each company is assigned an account manager from the government who is the single person the finalists need to deal with in order to sign all the necessary forms and obtain all the necessary permissions with a service commitment to complete all formalities in under 2 months.
Ladies and gentleman, I am speaking about Ponda Municipal Corporation, not Ponda Taluka, not even the Goa State Government, just the municipality of Ponda. Sounds too good to be true or an impossible dream? Actually, it’s all possible when one has a clear vision, collective will of all levels of government and complete co-operation from the citizens of Ponda.
This scenario is currently in play in the tiny municipalities of Longgang and Pingshan, located on the eastern side of Shenzhen province (state) in China. Longgang is also where the ancient Hakka culture was born in the 12 century and is the origin of Hakka cuisine and our famous Indian Chinese dish – Hakka Noodles. My start-up, Nellikuru Innovations had won the Advance Manufacturing sector final for the Indian region of the 1st China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition held in Bangalore. The Indian region finals were organized by the Sino India Trade and Culture Promotion Council (http://www.cnintcpc.org) and as a sector winner we were invited to participate in the Global finals hosted by the municipalities of Longgang and Pingshan on April 13 and 14, 2017.
We were based in Pingshan, which began its transformation from a rural village and forest area to an industrial powerhouse only in 2009. In less than 8 years, Pingshan has established 3 industrial bases focusing on new energy in automobiles (electric vehicles, batteries and accessories), new technologies in bio-diversity (New Pharma) and Intelligent Manufacturing (Robotics and new IT technologies). Collectively, these three bases have attracted the best companies from around the world including BYD, Sanofi Pasteur and Rapoo and the total turnover of industries based in Pingshan has reached 29 billion US dollars this year. In anticipation of such growth and development they have already built 4 lane each way highways, a network of electric buses, a metro rail network and a bullet train service connecting Pingshan to Shenzhen city and the rest of China. Over the next few years, they plan to create a higher education park attracting top universities like the Beijing University of Chinese medicine and the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in order to train the next generation of engineers and designers. All this from a tiny municipality whose population today is just over 6.6 lakh people.
Goa is a lot like the Shenzhen province (state) which started off as a coastal rural area only 25 years ago. Today Shenzhen city is one of the top 10 cities in China. Like Shenzhen, Goa is rich in natural resources, is strategically located in India, has transport connectivity including road, rail, airport and port and is home to some of the best intellectual and educated minds from India and across the world. All Goans really need is a clear vision of development, a concrete plan put forward in agreement with all levels of government including the panchayats and most importantly the openness and willingness to adapt to change and development which will bring real prosperity.
Like the people of Pingshan, Goans have a rich history and culture, live a simple life and are hard working. There is just one stark difference. In Goa, we love to talk, protest, debate, object and politicise, do everything but take real action for real change. The Chinese speak very little but do a lot. While they do their best to preserve their culture, the people of Pingshan are open to change and progress and have embraced the opportunity to develop from a rural culture to a world class manufacturing hub. They want the best technology and innovation to come to their municipality and are proud of the “Make in China” and “Made in Pingshan” label. It’s very similar to our Make in India initiative and should the people of Ponda and Goans at large embrace a “Make in Goa” and “Made in Ponda” attitude, everything that is currently happening in Pingshan can happen right here in Ponda.
