Chief Minister Pramod Sawant says nine memorandums of understanding could create about 5,000 jobs, while the state courts investors and seeks new export markets for small businesses.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant used the closing session of the three-day Vibrant Goa Global Business Summit to press investors to back the state, saying the Goa Investment Promotion Board had signed nine memorandums of understanding worth Rs 8,600 crore and that the projects could generate about 5,000 jobs. According to summit coverage in the Navhind Times and other local reports, the planned investment spans artificial intelligence, data centres, technology, hospitality, energy, logistics and healthcare.
Sawant argued that Goa now offers a stronger business case than its beach economy often suggests, pointing to what he described as easier investment procedures, a second international airport, a logistics and warehousing policy and an upcoming electronics manufacturing cluster. He also urged delegates to look beyond Panaji and Calangute and consider opportunities in the hinterland, saying the government would work to keep approvals and procedures investor-friendly.
The summit placed particular emphasis on smaller firms. Business-to-business meetings were held alongside reverse buyer-seller sessions organised under the RAMP scheme by the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce, with Sawant saying the aim was to connect local producers directly with larger buyers rather than leave them to search for markets on their own. He also said the government would move quickly on the Mukhyamantri Export Incentive Scheme, which he said would be supported by the industries department as MSMEs are guided through their first export shipment and beyond. The state’s longer-term target, he said, is to create 500 MSME export champions by 2037.
Sawant also backed a proposed defence conclave, saying Goa was a natural venue for such an event and asking the organisers to submit a formal proposal. The summit closed with sessions on education, artificial intelligence and data centres, MSME skilling and the Goan diaspora, reflecting the government’s broader effort to present the state as more than a tourism destination and to widen its industrial base.
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