Overseas firms turn Kerala into a business hub

A first-of-its-kind job fair was organised on December 7, 2019 at Angamali, Kochi

God's Own Country - Kerala - is slowly turning into a hub of multinational companies and foreign direct investment. Even as the country reels under the economic slowdown, automobile manufacturing units, IT companies, multinational firms, and manufacturers of consumer goods have started to make inroads into the state, which is also opening up new avenues for generating employment opportunities. In order to cater to these bigwigs and meet their demands for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers, the Kerala government is in the process of setting up a first-of-its-kind data bank of work resources, to bring demand and supply on the same platform.

Speaking to mid-day from the Kerala State Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, an official attached to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Our industrial policies have been quite lucrative as it has attracted global giants to enter into MOUs with the Kerala government for setting up their manufacturing and IT service hubs in the state. In the next couple of months Kerala will transform into a hub of global industries, which will not only generate more job opportunities, but will also place the state on the world map."

The official added, "We have already signed MoUs with global automobile industries like Nissan Motor Company and Toshiba from Japan. Swiss vehicle manufacturing major HESS AG has expressed their interest in the Kerala government's electric vehicle policy and has started operating from their manufacturing units in Thiruvanantapuram."

"Larger multinational brands catering to consumer needs like LG, Samsung from South Korea are in dialogue with the Kerala government. An MoU has been signed with Canada-based Teranet Inc, a leading IT solution provider for Canadian financial services and real estate markets. They have also set up their software development centre at the Techno park area in Thiruvanathapuram. Airbus Bizlab has also started their aerospace innovation centre in the state capital," added the official.

Policy and infra support

E-governance initiatives would further strengthen transparency and bridge digital divide, an observation made by IBEF in their findings pertaining to the infrastructure report, said Major Dinesh Bhaskaran, additional private secretary to the chief minister. He further said, "A hub of start-up initiatives, Kerala has decided to spend around Rs 1,000 crore in the next four years for the same."

State job portal

The state labour department is in the process of creating a databank of the available labour force in Kerala. T P Ramakrishnan, labour and excise minister of the state, said, "The portal is a unique single-window facility for job seekers and employers to boost employment in the state. It is a one-stop solution for job search and recruitment."

"So far the portal has 62,670 registered job seekers and about 187 recruiters," explained Jiji Mon, spokesperson for the job portal. "We are in the process of creating a data bank of employees, which might take a year or two," he added.

First job fair

Meanwhile, a first-of-its-kind job fair was organised on December 7, 2019, at Angamali, Kochi. A total of 1,300 vacancies were put up 52 registered companies on the job portal. "About 4,000 applicants expressed their interest in taking part in the job fair, but on an actual day about 2,000 of them participated," said Mon.

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