An interactive session with Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday afternoon is the key highlight of the first day of the 2-day Punjab Progressive Investors Summit (PPIS) 2019, kickstarting tomorrow with focus on putting the state’s MSME sector on the centrestage of the global value chain.The Chief Minister’s session on 'Blueprint for accelerating growth' will have PRS Oberoi, Executive Chairman, East India Hotels (EIH); Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman & MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Sanjiv Puri, Chairman, ITC Group; Prakash Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Group Europe, Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise; and Suchita Jain, Vice Chairman & Joint Managing Director, Vardhman Textiles as participants.The session will take place from 2.35 p.m. to 3.05 p.m., on a day packed with a series of exciting sessions aimed at catapulting the state as a front-ranker favoured investment destination for domestic and global players.The Key Note address by Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, will set the tone of the two panel discussions - `Blueprint for accelerating growth’ and `Building Partnerships for Inclusive Growth’ during the afternoon session, slated to close at 5 p.m. Prabh Das, MD & CEO, HMEL, will share his experiences during the session, which will also see MSME Awards & HDFC Loan Disbursal.The second panel discussion of the afternoon session will be participated by Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprise; Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC; Rajeev Singh, Vice Chairman, DLF; Sharafuddin Sharaf, Vice Chairman, SHARAF GROUP; and Jyotsna Suri, CMD, Bharat Hotels (Lalit Hotels).Scheduled to commence at 11.30 a.m. at the Indian School of Business, Mohali, the PPIS 2019 is set to build strong business partnerships for the state across sectors, with thrust on MSMEs.
The two-day event aims to showcase the investment climate in Punjab and offers opportunities for prospective collaborations. It will be a platform for global leaders, industrialists and experts to come together to share their narratives on emerging markets/trends, and discuss ways to address the shifting industry requirements in this age of disruptions, according to Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary, Invest Punjab, which has organized the summit.The MSME session at the start of Day 1 will see an address by the Secretary Deptt for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, GOI. The panel for this session including representatives from World Bank and UNIDO, apart from Sandhar Technologies, Capital Small Finance Bank and Fresh F&V and Frozen Food, ITC, will set the context of the summit’s theme. A highlight of the session will be an MoU exchange with ecommerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon. Top management from Hero Cycles, KPMG India and New Swan will share their experiences during the session.A parallel session on ‘How to make Punjab the Next Startup Destination’ will have delegates from AgNext Technologies, Bharat Fund, Sonalika Industries, Indian Angel Network & Founding Partner of IAN Fund, engage in an interesting panel discussion. The highlights of this session include experience sharing by MoooFarm founder, and concluding remarks by MD of Akal Springs Limited.At the same time, the UK Country session will see a discussion on `Punjab & UK: Opportunities for Innovation and Technology’, with top representatives from UK Trade and Investment – India, UK India Business Council (UKIBC), HUL, CSR-IMTECH and Tynor. British Deputy High Commissioner to India Andrew Ayre will make a Country Presentation during the session.A host of cultural events, followed by dinner, will give the delegates the chance to savour the flavor of Punjab in all its hues at the end of the day.