Kochi, July 5: The Confederation of Indian Industry (Southern Region) will organise a major tourism summit here in March to draw the attention of the world investing community on the vast tourism assets in South India in general and Kerala in particular.

Confederation Indian Industry (southern region) chairman Venu Srinivasan told mediapersons here that the main objective of the summit was to catalyse the flow of investment inputs into the tourism sector and encourage tourism in the region in a big way.

He said the southern region of the Confederation of Indian Industry would attempt at developing a southern tourism circuit for building up shareable and common infrastructure in terms of regional air-grid, integrated road networking and common marketing plans.

To focus on this area of work, the Confederation of Indian Industry has constituted groups for the first time in the current year and the tourism summit was designed to facilitate the development of the southern tourism grid.

Each state had certain sectors of competence, and for Kerala it was the food and agro sector which needed the concerted push, he said. Building competitiveness in Indian industry would be a major thrust and the Confederation of Indian Industry had decided to focus on total cost management as a major tool for achieving it.

For this, the Confederation of Indian Industry would additionally focus on tools like information technology, technology purchase, absorption and adoption, shopfloor level programmes for productivity as well as focus on brand building.

Brand Summit`97 which became the landmark event in the country would be repeated in early February 1998, he said.

The Confederation of Indian Industry would organise summits on food processing, textile, water management and financial services, he added.Venu Srinivasan said the other major focus of the southern region this year would be catalysing action at the grassroots level with special reference to development of urban infrastructure and quality of life in the first and second level cities and rejuvenation of industrial estates. The confederation of Indian Industry would benchmark one of the leading industrial estate in the South as a model and gradually focus on rejuvenation of one industrial estate in each state to start with against this model.

The Confederation Of Indian Industry would continue with its dual focus on working with the government and with the industry, he said. Two important areas of dialogue that would continue with the government would relate to infrastructure and administrative reforms, he added.

In the current year small and medium sectors would receive a major thrust. This would be facilitated by a series of programmes ranging from problem solving inputs, advice, information and efficiency building programmes, Srinivasan said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.