John Kerry, Ban Ki-moon, heads of state to attend Vibrant Summit

AHMEDABAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, prime ministers, ministers and envoys of several nations would attend Vibrant Gujarat Summit, beginning from January 11 in Gandhinagar, the Gujarat government officially announced here today.

At least 12 union ministers including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would also participate in the event.

According to a list released by the Gujarat state government today, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Macedonia Prime Minister Nikola Grueveski would attend the event.

Prominent countries scheduled to participate in the 'Country Seminars' include United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Bahrain and Afghanistan.

Others who have given their consent include Australian Minister of Investment and Trade Martin Hamilton Smith, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander, Canadian Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women Kellie Leitch.

Other prominent international figures include Denmark's Minister for Trade & Development Mogens Jensen, Israel's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Yair Shamir, Minister (Economic) Japan Akio Isomata, Minister in Singapore government S Iswaran and UK Minister of Trade and Development Lord Livingston, among others.

The Gujarat government also announced that almost 12 union ministers would represent India during the summit and take part in seminars including Union Minister of Defence Manohar Parrikar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal, as well as Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley.

Union Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Health J P Nadda, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar as well as Union Minister for Medium Small and Micro Enterprises Kalraj Mishra, among others, are set to attend the event.