Consulate decision in Kolkata based on geography, not CPM

We’ve already got a place ready near the Bidhannagar Municipality office. I think the consulate, including the commercial office, should be operational by the beginning of April, once the interior decoration work is over. In fact, the officer who is going to look after the commercial section will be arriving from China by the end of this month.

The earlier Chinese consulate in the city had shut down in 1962. Why has it taken the Chinese government so long to reopen it, considering the one in Mumbai was reopened long ago?

Mumbai has more foreign consulates than Kolkata. So we thought at the time that from the point of view of trade and increasing people-to-people contact, there was a greater need to open a Chinese consulate in Mumbai. About reopening it in Kolkata, the idea was to be more geographically balanced in the country. We have a consulate in Delhi that looks after northern India. Our consulate in Mumbai looks after western and south India. And the new consulate in the city is going to look after five states —— West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa.

Some people think the decision to reopen the consulate here is because of our closeness to the CPM and the renewed industrialisation in the state. But that does not matter much. Our aim is to make the process of visa procurement easier for those Indians wishing to visit China.

How do you look at the changing industrial scenario in the state?

We are looking at the developments in Bengal in a very positive way. The government appears to be very determined to usher in industrialisation. I talked to some government officials and CPM members and they told me that in the 70s, their emphasis was on agriculture and land reforms and not much attention was paid to industrialisation. But, according to them, they have now realised that political support from the countryside alone is not enough and that industrialisation is required to solve problems such as that of unemployment.

So how do you see China being a part of this process?

The problem is that not many back home know about the prospects of investing in Bengal at the moment. The first thing that the new consulate is going to do is report back to China, correctly and objectively, the investment climate in the state. I am going to instruct the commercial office to assess the FDI climate in the state. We would like to visit companies that have already set up base here and learn from their experiences in the state and understand what lessons can be avoided, which would help Chinese companies take the right decisions.

There are already some big Chinese companies operating in the state. These include Dongfang, which is involved in the energy sector, ZTE and Huawei, two large Chinese IT companies who are planning to expand their operations in Kolkata. Hopefully, more companies are going to come in the future.

A trade delegation from China visited West Bengal recently to explore business opportunities. What was their feedback?

Most of the companies were positive about doing business in Bengal. But all of them said that the process was in an initial stage. They felt the need to have greater knowledge about the market for their products in the state and find potential local partners. So they do not foresee any significant trade ties between the two regions immediately. But trade delegations such as these will frequently make trips to this place in the future.

The companies that came are members of the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce. They want to foster a long-term relationship between their chamber and the local chambers of commerce in Kolkata.

What is your reaction to the severe outbreak of bird flu in the state?

We are following the daily updates. I had called the state chief secretary personally and said that if the state government needed any assistance, I would communicate the same to Beijing and see if the Chinese government could help in any way.

Do you think the state administration needs to do anything more to ensure the welfare of the large Chinese community in Kolkata?

The economic condition of the Chinese living in other southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia is much better than Kolkata. But I understand that the state tourism minister has said he wants to improve the general condition of Tangra and make it a tourist spot, in the form of a new China Town. Though it appears to be only a plan at the moment, we would be very happy if appropriate steps are taken in this regard.

How does China feel about the outcome of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China?