Gandhinagar- A veritable Who’s Who from the global corporate sector, heads of governments and states, Nobel Prize winners and academicians are expected to attend the much-hyped 8th edition of the biennial three-day ‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit’ beginning here on January 10.

According to Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary for Industries and Mines P.K. Taneja, “The guest list of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017 reflects one of the largest gatherings of global leaders witnessed in the country. Various heads of government and state, Nobel Prize winners and leaders from the corporate world and academia have confirmed their presence.”

These include Representative Director and President of Suzuki Motors Corporation Toshihiro Suzuki; Makoto Fusayama, Chairman, Tokyo Engineering Corporation, Japan; President of Boeing International Bertrand Marc Allen; Executive Chairman of Cisco Systems Inc John Chambers; Peter R. Huntsman, President, CEO and Director, Huntsman Corporation USA; and Shigeru Murayama, Chairman and Representative Director, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.

Indian corporate leaders to attend the event include Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Shashi Ruia, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Anil Ambani, AM Naik, Gautam Adani, Dr Vishal Sikka, Uday Kotak, Adi Godrej, Dilip Sanghvi, Tulsi Tanti, Sudhir Mehta, Pankaj Patel, Sanjay Lalbhai, Dr Rajiv Modi, Sachin Bansal (Flipkart), Kunal Bahl (Snapdeal), Bhavish Aggarwal (ANI and Olacabs), Arundhati Bhattachara (SBI), Y.C. Deveshwar (ITC) and B.K. Goenka (Welspun).

The Heads of State expected at the event are Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya; Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda; Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal; Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister of Serbia; Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia; Piotrglinski, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Poland; Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, France; Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan; Anna Ekstrom, Minister for Upper Secondary School and Adult Education and Training, Sweden; Uri Ariel, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel; Lars Christian Lilleholt, Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate, Denmark; Dr Rashid Ahmad bin Fahad, Cabinet Minister and Minister of State, UAE; Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Canada; Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Trade & Industry, Vietnam; Wladyslaw Ortyl, Chief Minister (Marshal) of Podkarpackie Region, Poland; Adam Struzik, Chief Minister (Marshal) of Mazowieckie Region, Poland; and Konstantin Markelov, Vice Governor and Chairman of the Government, Astrakhan region.

Taneja said a Global CEO Conclave will be held alongside the summit, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will also be present.

Scientists attending a Nobel Prize Exhibition at Science City in Ahmedabad on January 9 and Nobel Laureate Dialogue at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on January 10 include India-born and Gujarat-educated Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan; Dr Ada Yonath, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry; 1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Dr Richard J Roberts; 1989 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, Dr Harold Varmus; 2004 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Dr David J. Gross; 2012 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Dr Serge Haroche; 2013 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, Dr Randy Schekman; 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Dr W.E. Moerner; and Prof. H.C. Hartmut Michel, 1988 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry.

As many as 12 countries will partner in the 2017 biennial summit, which was started in 2003 by Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

These are Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the USA. (IANS)