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Bhubaneswar: The state government’s attention is focused on improving the state’s position in the promotion of industrialisation in order to be among the top three states in terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business,’ said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday.
“Orissa, at present, has secured the seventh position in terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’. There is an effort to improve this position to bring the state among the top three states,” said Patnaik in his address at a seminar on the ‘role of Industries Promotion Officers (IPOs) in entrepreneurship development in our state’ organised by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department here.
Patnaik said investor sentiment becomes positive with enhanced facilitation to potential investors and simplification of business processes, which, in turn, helps attract Investors to the state.
Stating that IPOs are the foot-soldiers of the MSME department and that their role is crucial for development of MSMEs at large, the chief minister said, “The officers of this department, especially the newly recruited Industries Promotion Officers, must work towards creating an industrial environment that encourages potential investors to set up manufacturing facilities in our State”.
In the present environment of industrialisation, ‘Ease of Doing Business’ remains a significant factor in attracting potential Investors. Stating that the MSME sector is one of the highest employment providers in any economy next only to agriculture, Patnaik said special attention has been given to the agro-food processing industries in this sector.
Stating that many steps have been taken by his government for the promotion of MSMEs through policy frameworks, the chief minister said that the MSME Development Policy, 2009; the Orissa Food Processing Policy, 2013; the Orissa Procurement Preference Policy, 2015 and the Export Policy, 2015 are already in place. He further said that Orissa Youth Innovation Fund has been created to encourage the state’s youth to bring new business ideas through innovation.
As many as 85 new IPOs were handed over appointment letters by the chief minister during the seminar at Soochana Bhawan here Friday.
