The ninth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit will commence at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a galaxy of political and corporate leaders, on Friday morning. Highly placed sources in the government said that a record 33,500 MoUs are expected to be signed at the three-day Summit, as against 25,578 in the previous Summit. As was the case the last time, the size of the proposed investment will not be declared. More than 4,000 people, including heads of state, diplomats, and corporate honchos from India and overseas, will be present at the inaugural session. First held in 2003, when Modi was the state's chief minister, the biennial Summit - aimed at re-establishing Gujarat as a preferred investment destination in the backdrop of the communal riots of a year earlier - has come a long way. The Summit began as an event for attracting investors to Gujarat, but has metamorphosed into a premier business event, where not only other states but even other countries, connect with potential investors. Giving company to PM Modi at the inaugural session would be Uzbekistan president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Rwanda president Paul Kagame, Denmark PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Czech Republic PM Andrej Babis, and Malta's PM Joseph Muscat, besides ministers from more than 20 countries, and diplomats from many nations. CEOs and top executives of global companies such as BASF, DP World, Suzuki, Vanguard and Maersk, and representatives of International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, will also be present. Corporate India will be represented by Mukesh Ambani, N Chandrasekaran, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Adani, Adi Godrej, and others. Top corporate leaders from Gujarat, such as Sudhir Mehta of Torrent and Pankaj Patel of Zydus Cadila, will also be there. Chief secretary JN Singh said that more than 114 international delegations will take part in the three-day summit. "More than 34,000 individuals and close to 27,000 companies have registered for the summit," he said. After the inaugural session, the Prime Minister will have one-on-one meetings with government representatives and top CEOs. He is also slated to take part in a 'round-table' interaction with heads of global sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and institutional investors. Being held for the first time, the interaction is being pitched as one of the highlights of the summit. State capital Gandhinagar, which will host the summit, has been turned into a virtual fortress, with a deployment of over 4,000 police personnel. 9TH EDITION OF VGS

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