Mamata Banerjee to Seek Investments in Spain Ahead of Bengal Global Business Summit

After the Centre approved a request for the trip on Thursday, Mamata Banerjee is set to travel to Spain to attract investments to the state before the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

According to sources, the chief minister's trip will likely begin on September 12 and end on September 23. The dates of the BGBS are November 21 and 22. According to rumors, Dubai is also on Mamata's agenda.

"Today (Thursday), the necessary approval from the ministry of foreign affairs reached Nabanna. The chief minister, who is in Mumbai for the third INDIA meeting, has been informed of this, according to a source.

The sources said that the chief minister could visit with a group of businessmen as well as a few representatives from the industries and MSME ministries.

The foundation has already been laid, since certain government representatives have previously been to Spain and spoken with the local chambers of business. A top official said that the chief minister's program could not be released since the permission from the foreign affairs ministry had not yet arrived.

The official said that Mamata's trip to Spain had certain specific goals.

The two major sectors of the Spanish economy are tourism and textiles. The visit to Spain is significant since the chief minister has stressed the importance of the MSME sector, according to a source.

Since the automobile industry is one of the main sectors of the Spanish economy, a different official said that Mamata was planning to concentrate on substantial investments as well.

She is expected to go to Madrid and Barcelona, where she has meetings set with a number of investors, according to the sources.

"The state has focused on the textile and tourism industries because of their tremendous potential to create employment. Spain has experience in these fields as well. Therefore, the goal would be to attract investment to these locations, especially when the state establishes many textile clusters, a bureaucrat said.

There aren't many significant Spanish firms working in India, and Spain isn't one of the top 10 foreign investors in India.

The retailer Inditex, which sells apparel under the brands Zara and Massimo Dutti, is well-represented in this area. The largest fast fashion company in the world, Inditex, collaborates with Trent Ltd., the retail division of Tata Group, to operate in India.

To draw in international investment, Mamata had already visited the UK, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands while concentrating on Europe. Her most recent trip lasted 12 days and went to Milan and Frankfurt in 2018.

But the results of such trips were little. But this time, since the emphasis will be on small and medium-sized businesses, the state is hoping for the best, according to a source.

The chief minister was purportedly denied permission by the previous Narendra Modi administration to travel to a number of nations.

A source in the Bengal administration said on Thursday, "We were expecting that the visit to Spain would be cleared by the Centre as she is going in search of investments."