Kolkata, Sept 22 (KNN) Bengal Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra has invited top representatives from 31 advanced nations, including 15 ambassadors to invest in the state.

He carried the message on behalf of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in order to give platform to people wanting to invest in Bengal to set up facilities in any category of industry.

Bengal is already a leader in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, and is gradually drawing bigger investors, he said.

This conference was in preparation for the fourth Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), scheduled for January 16-17, 2018. Over the years, the BGBS summits, a brainchild of Mamata Banerjee for attracting investment in Bengal, after the 34-year industrial drought during the Left Front era, have been a huge hit, with memoranda of understanding (MoU) worth hundreds of crores of rupees signed every year.

Towards that aim, the State Government is also going to organise a road show in Delhi soon.

At the 2017 BGBS, representatives from 29 countries in Europe, USA and Asia attended. The 2018 summit is going to be jointly organised by the Bengal government and the industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

At the Delhi summit, Dr Mitra offered a bouquet of opportunities for anyone wanting to set up, singly or jointly, industrial facilities in any sector. Among the ambassadors were those from Singapore, the Netherlands, Russia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Hungary, Israel, Bulgaria, Bhutan and Norway, and among the other countries senior representatives were those from Australia and Thailand.