Eight foreign delegations and 200 representatives from abroad participated in the sector seminars and 20 world-renowned experts delivered speeches. Around 60 industrialists - investors held meetings with the Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in the course of two days. Shree Balaji Sadashivan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the Singapore government was the Chief Guest in the summit. Delegations came from USA, China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Italy and Israel.

The Chief Minister opened the Summit with the assertion that the main goal of the state was to transform the entire Gujarat into SEZ - Spirituality, Entrepreneurship and Zeal.  The ultimate aim was to transform Gujarat in a manner that it competed with developed nations on equal footing in 2010 achieving world-class benchmark of development.  Before five years the question was Why Gujarat. Now it is Vibrant Gujarat.

By 2010, Gujarat aims at the upliftment of the poorest of the poor. By then the state will be a strategic world-class infrastructure hub with modern ports along the 1600 kilometer long coastline emerging as a gateway of prosperous economic activities.

Speakers at the inaugural ceremony extolled the progress made by Gujarat. Mr. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Limited described Gujarat as a land that has transformed opportunities and challenges into a powerful entrepreneurial vision. Mr. Ratan Tata said Gujarat is an ideal investment destination. Mr. Kumarmangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla group attributed Gujarat's phenomenal growth to its full-time working government headed by a CEO in Mr. Narendra Modi. The state is vibrant because of its good political leadership. Mr. Shashi K. Ruia of Essar group said Gujarat is now among the most favoured states for investment and foreign investors. Mr. Gautam Adani of the Adani group said the Gujarat government has provided a very clear legal and financial policy framework for port development. Several other business leaders who spoke included Mr. K.V. Kamath, Managing Director of ICICI Bank, Mr. Pankaj Patel of Zydus Cadila Limited Mr. Indravadan Modi of Cadilla Pharmaceuticals and Mr. Sudhir Mehta of the Torrent group.

Nine sector specific seminars held during the event was another major highlight. The segments covered were: Agro Food Processing, Engineering, Auto& Ceramics, Biotechnology, Textiles & Apparel, Gems & Jewellery and Pharmaceuticals. In all these sectors, the participants had a deep insight into emerging trends of the future in terms of technological developments sweeping across the world.

During the course of the Summit, a total of 343 Memorandam of Understanding were inked and 20 announcements were made aggregating prospective investments worth Rs 461835 crores. This includes Rs 14811 crore investments promised in 21 MoUs signed at an IT Summit.

On the top of the investment brackets were 28 MoUs for Special Economic Zones with an investment tally of Rs 170,889 crores.

Click to see detailed breakup and list of MOUs signed.

The Summit 2007 was a unique success of "Team Gujarat". The very constructive results that have emerged from the Summit positively indicate that they will go a long way in positioning Gujarat as a Global Investment Destination. The state with its strong fundamentals of international economic benchmarks and the cluster of Special Economic Zones - the state's new growth engine that are going to come up will be the driving force of both the state's and India's economic progress in the years ahead.

With lakhs of crores of investment pouring in to the State, new employment opportunities are created attracting talented professionals, wealth is created that is improving lifestyles and creating new demands on urban infrastructure. To highlight the sector of urban development that has opened a lot of new avenues for growth and investment, the state government hosted a two day Vibrant Gujarat Urban Development Summit on 15th and 16th Feb. 2007.

It was attended by the President of India, H.E. Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam inaugurated by Mr. Narendra Modi, Hon. Chief Minister of Gujarat and saw world renowned urban planners and established builders from across India participate and contribute to the Urban Development sector’s growth. MoUs worth Rs.2.05 lakh crores were inked during the two day Summit ensuring a rapid development in urban areas as Gujarat has over 37% population living in urban areas, which is already one of the highest urban population figures among all Indian states.

Gujarat today benchmarks itself with the Asian Tigers’ economy and their growth. The state has the desire and determination to soon be the benchmark for rapid and structured growth resulting in comprehensive overall development that percolates to the grassroots, uplifting the entire populace. With such concerted efforts, an utopian state might not be a land at the end of the rainbow but a dream very close to being realized at the western state of India – GUJARAT.

The Vibrant Gujarat Summit and the Urban Summit were preceded by another signal event – Gujarat IT Summit.

The IT Summit too was a resounding success with the signing of 19 MoUs entailing investments worth over Rs 14811 crore for setting up a slew of IT parks and SEZs, IT/ITES units and telecom infrastructure. These have also promised employment generation of over 3.27 lac over the next five years. The IT industry has spotted a new star on the horizon – Gujarat – the most preferred destination of today. It is a reality today in Gujarat.

The chief minister, Mr. Narendra Modi said that the IT summit was an important step in the march towards progress of the state. He further emphasized that the role of the state government was that of a catalyst. The state offered huge opportunities in Knowledge Processing Outsourcing industry especially animation, financial and other services.

Leading lights of the Indian IT industry and also representatives of multinational companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM also participated in the event.

The Summit revealed that the state offeres huge investment opportunities in Software development Centres, Call Centres, Business Process Outsourcing Units, Knowledge Processing Outsourcing (Accounts, Insurance, Tax return processing, banking and analysis for business news), training & education centres, Bio IT Software Development, Semi-conductor/Chip manufacturing Unit, Embedded software design & development, Medical Transcript Units and Graphic Animation and designing.

An exhibition showcasing the IT opportunities in Gujarat with participants including Helwet Packard, Wipro, TCS, Hutch, Third Eye, GVFL were held. There was also a panel discussion on “Developing a collaborative model for Gujarat to emerge as the Silicon Valley of Western India”. The discussions were moderated by the Editor of the CNBC.