Modi woos Chinese to India’s ‘growth engine’ Gujarat

He said Gujarat represents “a very different model of growth”. Within India,“Gujarat is considered to be the Growth Engine. Among other things,it contributes to 30 per cent of India’s stock market capitalisation,” he said. “However,to my mind,the bigger success is that Gujarat has an amazing mix of the big and small; robust and inclusive; fast and sustainable. It has done wonderfully well on both the Macro and the Micro indicators,” he added.

“Our growth rate of GDP has been in double digits for a decade. At the same time,the per capita income of

the people has also grown at the fastest rate of 13.8%,” he said,adding,“Not only multinationals and big companies have done well,but a large number of SMEs have also prospered. Not only the industry has grown at 13% but agriculture has also grown at more than 10%.”

He said Gujarat has already emerged as a global player in products like pharmaceuticals,chemicals and engineering. “However,we have to do still better. Therefore,we are making a paradigm shift in our strategy for development. Our dream is a Gujarat which is a globally preferred place to live in and to do business,” he said.

Modi also announced plans to open a Mandarin school to promote learning of Chinese language in Gujarat. “To give a big boost to the economic interaction,we must emphasise on cultural exchange. I am keen to start a Mandarin language school. We also have a number of Buddhist places which can be the driver of cultural exchange. You may be happy to know that Gujarat has already emerged as a great tourist destination in the Asian region,” he said.

He further said that while “India has emerged” is the buzz word all around the world,China’s emergence is already an established fact. India and China are set to play a major role in global politics. “Already,it is being seen that during the time of global recession,both India and China have given strength to the world economy,” he said.

About 80 Chinese companies took part in the “Business and Investment Opportunities in State of Gujarat”,jointly held by embassy of India here along with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products.

Later,Modi and his delegation held talks with Ai Ping,Vice Minister of International Department of the ruling CPC,which his invited him to the country.