First Vibrant Gujarat regional conference to be held on October 9

Gandhinagar, Oct 7 (PTI) The first Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference (VGRC) will be held from October 9 with a focus on highlighting the strengths of the northern region of the state, Minister Balvantsinh Rajput said on Tuesday.

The two-day conference will be held at Ganpat University campus in Mehsana district on October 9 and 10.

"This is the first of four regional conferences that the state government has planned in four different zones on the lines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), first launched in 2003 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister," said state Industries Minister Rajput.

Industries Commissioner P Swaroop said the event will see the participation of national and international delegates, with Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and the Netherlands agreeing to become "partner countries" for this conference, which is centred around the north Gujarat region.

"Agriculture and food processing, auto and auto components, green energy and engineering are sectors which will remain in focus during the conference. Apart from the four partner countries, several international organisations, such as JETRO, are also participating," Swaroop told reporters.

Apart from JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation), delegates of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Indo-Canadian Business Chamber and Trade Representation of the Russian Federation are also participating in this conference.

As part of the conference, a trade show will be held on the varsity campus between October 9 and 13, the official said.

"After the inaugural event, there will be B2B (business-to-business) and B2G (business-to-government) meetings, an exhibition, a trade show, sector-specific seminars and inauguration of major projects. It will also have industrial tours, a reverse buyer-seller meet and an award ceremony," he said.

The official said that the event aims to promote investments in districts, boost local tourism, infrastructure projects, region-specific development, strengthen MSMEs and local industries and open global markets for local products.

Minister Rajput said that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched the regional version of the VGGS in August to highlight the strengths of each region, promote local products at international and national levels and seek investment in districts.

The conference will help attract investment in districts that have a favourable ecosystem for select industrial sectors, he said.

"Gujarat's per capita income was Rs 18,753 when PM Modi launched the first Vibrant Summit in 2003. After 10 summits till now, the state's per capita income stands at Rs 2.73 lakh. In addition, the industrial production has risen 15 times during this period," the minister said.

Swaroop said that the 11th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit will be held in 2027.

"Ahead of the summit, we will hold four sector-specific regional conferences in different regions during the next year. A conference for Kutch-Saurashtra will take place in Rajkot in January 2026, followed by similar events for south and central Gujarat in April and June," he said. PTI PJT PD ARU