West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal, in association with The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Indian Chamber of Commerce hosted the BRICS Young Diplomats Forum during their visit to Kolkata on 6th September 2016 at the Bengal Chamber Premises at an event titled “Forging Stronger Intra BRICS Trade: Exploring Complementarities”. The event was a part of the initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India’s elaborate plan to publicize its foreign policy initiatives to reach out to more people, especially the youth, and a beginning was to be made at the BRICS Summit in Goa on October 15-16. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is planning to hold 90 events across several cities ahead of the eighth meeting of the five-nation group – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – that holds 42 % of the world’s population and 25% of the global GDP.

The Speakers included :
• Shri Amarendra Khatua, IFS, Dean FSI and Secretary, Government of India.
• Dr Sanjeev Chopra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal.
• Shri Talleen Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of IT&E, Government of West Bengal.
• Ms Nayantara Pal Chowdhury, Senior Member from Indian Chamber of Commerce.
• Shri P Kamalakanth, IFS, Executive Director, WBIDC.
• Shri Pradip Majumdar, Advisor, Agriculture Department, Government of West Bengal.

The Young Diplomats, for whom the session was organized, included a team of at least five to six from each of the five BRICS nations. All the Diplomats from the BRICS nations stayed in Kolkata from the 3rd to the 6th of September and the session was part of their tour programme.

Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, in charge of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal presided over the Session.

Shri Amarendra Khatua, IFS, Dean FSI and Secretary, Government of India, thanked the Chambers of Commerce and the Government of West Bengal for hosting the forum at Kolkata. He felt that were a number of technical cooperation programmes open to the BRICS nations and the interactions here would surely add a lot of knowledge and experience for the participants.

Mr. Sutanu Ghosh, President Designate, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, in his welcome address expressed his happiness at Kolkata being included by the MEA in the BRICS schedule. He stated that with a cumulative global trade of 20 percent and generating over 40 percent of global economic growth, the BRICS countries and India specifically can position themselves as a prominent global leader in trade and are poised to strengthen their relationship through intra-BRICS trade. He also stated that the Bengal Chamber of Commerce in association with the Government of West Bengal has envisioned to reposition Kolkata as a “niche city” promoting “Analytics” as a select skill set, like the Silicon Valley in the USA.

Shri Talleen Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of IT&E, Government of West Bengal, in his detailed presentation on the “ICT landscape in West Bengal”, distinctly elaborated on the IT sector and opportunities that exist in the State for members of the BRICS nations. Cyber security, big data analytics, designs and innovations were the areas of strength in West Bengal. He emphasized the availability of skilled manpower with presence of several renowned technical institutions in the State as well as the immense growth prospects of the State in the context of the large market it offers. An interesting round of Q&A followed Shri Kumar’s presentation.

Ms Nayantara Pal Chowdhury from Indian Chamber of Commerce, stated that West Bengal was emerging as an important investment hub in the country and would provide the BRICS nations trade and investment opportunities especially in IT, agriculture, horticulture and fisheries and offered ICC’s help from areas ranging from policy advocacy with the Government of India to identifying key sectors for investments by the BRICS nations.

Shri P Kamalakanth, IFS, Executive Director, WBIDC, in his presentation, emphasized the opportunities available in the State for investment in the manufacturing sector and the State’s focus towards development of the industrial ecosystem. The specially earmarked manufacturing belts and industrial parks, development of ports and dedicated freight corridors and skill development initiatives taken up were highlights of his presentation.

Shri Pradip Majumdar, Advisor, Agriculture Department, Government of West Bengal, presented in detail the growth story of India’s agriculture in general, particularly highlighting the improvements brought about on West Bengal’s agricultural front through use of IT and IT enabled services, and by addressing the problems faced by the farmers, 95% of whom are marginalized. IT support, financial support and legislative changes in the State has brought about immense improvements and today West Bengal happens to be the leading producer of rice and vegetables. 66% of land area in West Bengal is under cultivation against the Indian average of 50%. There exist immense opportunities for export of agricultural produce, including a variety of fruits from West Bengal.

The Panel Discussion which followed the opening session had Mr S Radhakrishnan, Chairman, TIE and Past President, Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Mr Kalyan Kar of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Prof Soikat Sinha Roy, Professor of Economics of Jadavpur University, who deliberated on the outcome and prospects of the cooperation in the BRICS group. Mr Snehasish Sur Moderated the session. The panel discussed a number of important issues ranging from the key economic and strategic measures to be adopted for sustained growth as well as harnessing each other’s strengths through FDI flows and treaties.