Gandhinagar: In a major international outreach ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2027, the Gujarat govt has drawn up a tentative plan to send nine ministerial and senior bureaucratic delegations to key global markets to attract investments and forge international business partnerships.Chief minister Bhupendra Patel will lead the delegation to the US and Canada, while deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi will head separate outreach missions to France, Germany and the Netherlands, and Japan and Singapore.According to top govt sources, the overseas missions are likely to begin by the end of Aug or in Sep, ahead of the summit scheduled to be held in Jan 2027. The delegations will meet investors, industry bodies and business leaders to showcase Gujarat’s investment opportunities and invite participation in VGGS.“A number of top functionaries of leading business conglomerates which have operations in Gujarat will also be part of delegations to various countries to promote the upcoming VGGS,” a senior govt official said.Additional chief secretary, finance, T Natarajan, and principal secretary to the CM, Sanjeev Kumar, are proposed to accompany Patel on the US-Canada mission.Sanghavi’s Europe delegation is proposed to include principal secretary (NRI & ART) Hareet Shukla and secretary to the deputy CM Ashish Kumar. His Japan-Singapore delegation will include industries commissioner P Swaroop and joint secretary, finance department, Arvind V.Finance, urban development and urban housing minister Kanu Desai is proposed to lead the South Korea-Taiwan delegation, accompanied by science and technology secretary P Bharathi and planning secretary Ardra Agarwal.Among the other proposed missions, principal secretary, energy and petrochemicals, Ashwani Kumar, will lead the delegation to Denmark, Finland and Sweden, accompanied by GAIC managing director Vijay Kharadi.Sports, youth and cultural activities secretary Rahul Gupta will lead the Australia-New Zealand delegation, accompanied by commissioner of geology and mining Dhaval Patel.GNFC managing director Rajkumar Beniwal will head the Oman-Saudi Arabia-UAE delegation with finance secretary Jenu Devan. Chief commissioner of state tax Roopwant Singh will lead the Russia-Poland outreach, while GIDC vice-chairman and CEO Praveena D K will head the delegation to Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
