This one goes a step beyond the GIMs that the state has hosted in the last few years. The effort in question is that of Karnataka's apex industry body spreading its wings across the seven seas.
The NRI Chapter of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), that was launched on Tuesday by Union minister for external affairs Salman Khurshid, is the first step in this direction.
The gathering of industry leaders in the city turned out to be essentially a bouquet of requests from the FKCCI. Speaking on behalf of industry, FKCCI president R Shivakumar urged Khurshid's intervention in setting up a Passport Seva Kendra in Mysore, which would go a long way in boosting the prospects of the historic town as both an investment destination and touist hub.
Shivakumar also took up a long-festering issue with the external affairs minister: that of the availability of yellow fever vaccine facilities across the country. "This has become a cause for concern of the Indian business community that needs to go on overseas trips quite frequently," he said.
The minister, who dwelt more at length on diplomacy than the demands and needs of Karnataka's industry, promised to take up the issue of the vaccine with the minister for health once he was back in New Delhi.
Khurshid spoke about his ministry's plans of expanding its size, and said industry professionals too should join the ministry of external affairs on deputation and serve in other countries on deputation.
Asserting that the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had done exceedingly well in connecting with "quality" NRIs, the minister said that it was only appropriate that the FKCCI was setting up a separate chapter for Indian expatriates living abroad.
R Krishna, chairman of the international trade committee of the FKCCI, believed that members of the new chapter would function as cultural ambassadors of Karnataka, and in the same breath urged the external affairs ministers to direct Indian embassies to identify 30 places across the globe. These (cities) would then be associated with each of the 30 districts of the state, he said.
Abu Dhabi-based businessman BR Shetty felt the purpose of the new chaper might come across as a platform to promote Indian products abroad, but "as NRIs, we need to think about what we can do for the state."
MLC and deputy chairman of the NRI Forum of Karnataka, Ganesh Karnik stressed on the need to develop a database of NRIs from Karnataka since people from the state are believed to have settled down in as many as 115 countries. Karnik described the FKCCI move as a step forward (from the forum that he is part of) and wondered if remittances from abroad that were growing at 40 per cent annually could be converted into an instrument of investment.
