10 February 2012
KUWAIT CITY: Rehabilitation of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) returning to their home country due to the nationalization drive in many states in the GCC is going to be a huge challenge in the coming years, said former minister of Kerala, M.M Hassan.
Hassan was talking on the opening day of NRI Conference 2012 organized by Kuwait Kerala Muslim Association (KKMA) Thursday at Ramada Hotel. The conference tackled issues of remittance and productive investment and savings of ordinary NRI's through discussions and presentations by a broad panel of experts from Kuwait and India.
M.M Hassan, who chaired the conference, stressed the need to contrive methods to help ordinary NRIs start micro enterprises in India to enable them to live a decent life when they repatriate. Drawing from his experiences as NORKA minister, M.M Hassan suggested business ventures modelled after cooperative societies for NRIs.
Focussing on Kerala, the former minister spotlighted the main concerns saying the government needs to create policies to make Kerala an investor friendly state, "which it is not today. Our bureaucrats should adopt a more open approach aimed at guiding NRI investors to meet their goals."
Kerala, M.M Hassan added, is a consumer state, "which means there is plenty of scope for production. Kerala only produces one-fourth the rice that it consumes."
The former minister also referred to how other states procure raw materials like rubber from Kerala and re-export them back as finished goods. He was making his case for small-scale enterprises and the plenty of opportunities in Kerala to start such ventures.
Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Satish C Mehta, in his inaugural address, spoke about the unenviable financial position of a majority of NRIs in the Gulf because of the lack of right knowledge. He said conferences like these are supposed to reach that knowledge to the NRIs here "and help them use their hard-earned money in the optimum way to secure their future."
Noyal Thomas of NORKA Roots, keynote speaker, said the large scale repatriation of NRIs following the crisis is becoming a social issue in Kerala. He added that about 10 percent of NRIs are from Kerala and they contribute to more than 20 percent of the total remissions to India.
Further the NORKA Roots Director noted that Kerala was once billed a money-order economy, underlining the scale of the Keralite Diaspora.
Thomas said that we need organizations to channelize funds from low-income NRIs into productive investments so that when they return they can maintain their lifestyles. He took the example of the Kannur Airport, "in which an ordinary NRI can gain a share for just Rs 50,000." Public Private Partnership, he added, is the way forward.
In the open discussion session John Mathew, Deputy Chairman Arabi Enertech, Kuwait, challenged the claims of Noyal Thomas, broadsiding NORKA and the government of Kerala "for doing precious little for the NRIs."
The average salary of an NRI in Kuwait, he said, is KD 80 per month, and he gets to save about KD 16 if he lives a disciplined life. John Mathew threw in more variables to this equation, saying for the last 50 years the Indian rupee has been devalued at 27.5 percent every year. "So, what's the incentive to remit money?"
The veteran businessman remembered the days 1 KD was 13 rupees, "and now it stands at 182 rupees. Moreover, there is an inflation of 10 percent every year, and banks keep increasing the interest rates to offset inflation. Currently, the bank interest rate is 14 percent."
John Mathew concluded by emphasising the importance of financial education for NRI's and the role of social organizations like KKMA to fill that gap.
KUWAIT CITY: Rehabilitation of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) returning to their home country due to the nationalization drive in many states in the GCC is going to be a huge challenge in the coming years, said former minister of Kerala, M.M Hassan.
Hassan was talking on the opening day of NRI Conference 2012 organized by Kuwait Kerala Muslim Association (KKMA) Thursday at Ramada Hotel. The conference tackled issues of remittance and productive investment and savings of ordinary NRI's through discussions and presentations by a broad panel of experts from Kuwait and India.
M.M Hassan, who chaired the conference, stressed the need to contrive methods to help ordinary NRIs start micro enterprises in India to enable them to live a decent life when they repatriate. Drawing from his experiences as NORKA minister, M.M Hassan suggested business ventures modelled after cooperative societies for NRIs.
Focussing on Kerala, the former minister spotlighted the main concerns saying the government needs to create policies to make Kerala an investor friendly state, "which it is not today. Our bureaucrats should adopt a more open approach aimed at guiding NRI investors to meet their goals."
Kerala, M.M Hassan added, is a consumer state, "which means there is plenty of scope for production. Kerala only produces one-fourth the rice that it consumes."
The former minister also referred to how other states procure raw materials like rubber from Kerala and re-export them back as finished goods. He was making his case for small-scale enterprises and the plenty of opportunities in Kerala to start such ventures.
Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Satish C Mehta, in his inaugural address, spoke about the unenviable financial position of a majority of NRIs in the Gulf because of the lack of right knowledge. He said conferences like these are supposed to reach that knowledge to the NRIs here "and help them use their hard-earned money in the optimum way to secure their future."
Noyal Thomas of NORKA Roots, keynote speaker, said the large scale repatriation of NRIs following the crisis is becoming a social issue in Kerala. He added that about 10 percent of NRIs are from Kerala and they contribute to more than 20 percent of the total remissions to India.
Further the NORKA Roots Director noted that Kerala was once billed a money-order economy, underlining the scale of the Keralite Diaspora.
Thomas said that we need organizations to channelize funds from low-income NRIs into productive investments so that when they return they can maintain their lifestyles. He took the example of the Kannur Airport, "in which an ordinary NRI can gain a share for just Rs 50,000." Public Private Partnership, he added, is the way forward.
In the open discussion session John Mathew, Deputy Chairman Arabi Enertech, Kuwait, challenged the claims of Noyal Thomas, broadsiding NORKA and the government of Kerala "for doing precious little for the NRIs."
The average salary of an NRI in Kuwait, he said, is KD 80 per month, and he gets to save about KD 16 if he lives a disciplined life. John Mathew threw in more variables to this equation, saying for the last 50 years the Indian rupee has been devalued at 27.5 percent every year. "So, what's the incentive to remit money?"
The veteran businessman remembered the days 1 KD was 13 rupees, "and now it stands at 182 rupees. Moreover, there is an inflation of 10 percent every year, and banks keep increasing the interest rates to offset inflation. Currently, the bank interest rate is 14 percent."
John Mathew concluded by emphasising the importance of financial education for NRI's and the role of social organizations like KKMA to fill that gap.
© Arab Times 2012
