Bengaluru, Jan 27 (KNN)  Over 1000 delegates from 45 countries are here today to attend the CII Partnership Summit which while highlighting investment opportunities provides a platform to exchange ideas and evolve solutions to the most urgent challenges confronting the world today.

An annual flagship event of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Partnership Summit (from January 27-29) has been organized in association with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

“The Partnership Summit 2014 would highlight the investment opportunities emerging from rapid poverty alleviation in India and offer ideas for how a new class of consumers can become a new dynamic for growth. It brings together multiple stakeholders and policy thought-leaders. It will be a platform to exchange ideas and evolve solutions to the most urgent challenges confronting the world today,” a press release said.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, and Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah are addressing the inaugural Session of the Partnership Summit.   Besides, Trade Ministers and senior officials from around 25 countries will speak during the event.

Director General, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Roberto Azevedo will also address the meeting, his first address in Asia after the conclusion of the historic agreement at the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Bali last December.

The theme of the Summit which is in its 20th year is “Emerging Global Value Chains (GVCs): Building Partnerships”.

Global value chains (GVCs) define the new age production process prevalent in the contemporary world.  Production of goods and services are increasingly fragmented and spread out across the ‘global village’ to reap the benefits of specialization. The emergence of GVCs challenges conventional wisdom and outlook on economic development, globalization and the policies that are developed around it.

The Summit will seek to address questions such as: What are challenges and opportunities emerging-market and developing economies face as they seek to integrate into the global production chain? How will Building Partnerships help in integration of companies from developing countries into the global value chain?

Further, it will feature Karnataka as the Partner State. The State Government’s focus will be on developing the critical infrastructure required to place industrial growth on a higher growth trajectory. It aims to take Karnataka from one of the preferred business destinations in India to the most preferred business destination in India.

In addition, the Kingdom of Bahrain will feature as the Focus Country at the Summit. The privatisation and diversification currently being undertaken in the Bahraini economy is expected to offer Indian businesses vast opportunities to participate in the Bahrain economy. Building upon the deep political, diplomatic, diplomatic and economic ties enjoyed by the two countries, a high level delegation from Bahrain led by His Excellency Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Acting Chief Executive of Economic Development Board, Bahrain will be participating at the Summit. A special session on Bahrain will highlight the opportunities that the country presents for India.

The Partnership Summit 2014 is a unique platform that would enable close examination of the partnerships and synergies that will spark the next phase of global growth and develop strong multi-country linkages and networks to assist the transformation of the global economy. 

The Summit is b held in Bangalore for the third time (first time in 2002 and second time in 2007), the hub of India's information technology sector and one of the top 10 preferred entrepreneurial locations in the world. It will also symbolize the growing aspirations of Karnataka, a state of 61 million people, setting in place a new architecture for economic and industrial growth.   (KNN/ES)