Kochi: There is a general mood among investors preferring a continuation of the current regime at the Centre even after the next election, a market expert said here on Wednesday. Prince George, CEO, Doha Brokerage and Financial Services, made the remark at the Malayala Manorama Sampadyam Kerala Business Summit at Le Meridien.
George said he was sharing the findings of a survey conducted among the investors in the public market.
“The Indian markets have been going up for sometime now and trading happening at higher level. Naturally, people may feel some uncertainties about it path. With the general elections due next year and five state polls going on, people may have some doubts. From a survey conducted among investors, it has been found that majority of them prefer a continuity at the Centre. They have a positive outlook about the policies that came up in the past 10 years. They think the policies have helped in our economy getting a momentum. Of course, there are people with different political ideologies who disagree with this argument,” he said, speaking at a session on “New Kerala model: Business opportunities and challenges”.
He said the general perception is that the market may get more momentum if there’s a continuity of the Narendra Modi-led regime. He said there is nothing to worry even if there is a regime change as the economy’s trajectory is right. “I guess there could be a knee-jerk reaction in case of a regime change. Even if there’s a knee-jerk reaction, the market is likely to bounce back in three to six months since our economic outlook and trajectory is clear,” he said.
On the business atmosphere of Kerala, George was highly critical about the public perception.
“We often hear our state is not business-friendly. What needs to be changed is the public perception about business people. They are often looked down as people who are manipulative. But if we look at many of the successful entrepreneurs from our state they are poles apart from the general outlook of the public. They are all people of high principles and integrity,” he said.
He also urged public to invest a portion of their surplus income in companies that require funding. As a mechanism to address the question of credibility while investing, he proposed to form a forum of experts who can review the candidates seeking investments.
Anish Achuthan, co-founder and CTO, Open Financial Technologies; VKC Razak, managing director VKC Group; and C Balagopal, founder, Terumo Penpol also spoke at the session.
AI, realty among discussion points
The business meet witnessed thought-provoking discussions on a wide range of topics covering AI, real estate and funding.
T Koshy, CEO, Open Network for Digital Commerce; Mathew Joseph, COO, FreshToHome Foods; and Vimal Govind, MD and CEO of Genrobotics spoke at the session on Embracing digitlaisation with the power of AI.
P H Kurian IAS (retd), chairman, Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-Rera); and Sunil Kumar V, founder and MD, Asset Homes spoke at a session on the Role of real estate and K-Rera in Kerala development. Uthara Ramakrishnan moderated the session.