Kevin McCole’s speech on ‘Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh’

By UK India Business Council (UKIBC)

Kevin McCole, Chief Operating Officer at the UK India Business Council gave his speech to the 'Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh' seminar - attended by the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

I’d like to welcome everyone to the seminar on Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh this afternoon.

I’d particularly like to welcome Shri Chouhan, the Hon’ble CM of Madhya Pradesh or, as he described himself yesterday, the CEO of Madhya Pradesh.

And what a successful CEO he has been. He is long serving – on 29 November he will have served for 11 years , and he has won three consecutive terms. The next State elections will be in 2018, and no one is betting against the CM being voted back for a remarkable fourth term.

It’s not difficult to see why Shri Chouhan is so electorally successful – his governments have made fantastic progress in the development of the state.

When he came to power in 2005, GDP growth was around 3% pa – the old so-called “Hindu rate of growth”. And this at a time when India as a whole was recording growth of 8%, and edging towards double digits. In recent years, MP has grown at 10% plus – ahead of the rest of India. Even more remarkably, agriculture sector growth is over 20%. Way ahead of the rest of India and, I believe, the world.

The State is also succeeding on another important aspect. in World Bank rankings released at this time last year, MP was ranked as one of the top 5 states in India for ease of doing business. Ahead of places like Maharastra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadi and Delhi.

So, Madhya Pradesh is recording high economic growth and high ease of doing business. Chief Minister, you and your team are achieving remarkable results. And you deserve the attention of overseas, particularly UK, investors.

Over the last two weeks preparing this visit, I’ve managed to catch a few glimpses of what makes the State so successful. I’ve seen a real open-ness and frank-ness. A can-do attitude. A flexibility. And a willingness to take the time to build the State’s brand in the UK, and the long term relationships that will reap benefits for Madhya Pradesh in the medium and long term.

I firmly believe that this visit to London and, indeed, this event, will prove to be a tremendous start to creating a deeper and mutually beneficial UK-MP economic relationship. A relationship that sees UK businesses invest in MP, in which businesses from Madhya Pradesh and the UK form joint ventures and trading partnerships, and where the UK’s expertise in smart cities, large infrastructure projects, and vocational training can help you achieve your ambitions for Madhya Pradesh.

Central to making this happen will be the two organisations the UKIBC is delighted to be working with on this visit: the Confederation of Indian Industries and the UK’s DfID – Department for International Development. A further important partner is the Department of International Trade.

From DfID, we have their India Country Head, Marshall Elliott, on the dias and we will be hearing from him shortly on the wonderful partnership he and his team has formed with the CM and his government.

Lastly, I’m delighted to announce today that the UK India Business Council will be working with DfID, the CII, DIT and the Government of MP on the next step in enhancing the UK-MP relationship. This is the Madhya Pradesh Global Investors’ Summit, taking place in Indore on 22 and 23 October. I’m sure you’ll learn more about this Summit, and much more about the State of Madhya Pradesh, in the next 90 minutes of this seminar.


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