Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday evening returned to Kolkata from her 12-day visit to Spain and the United Arab Emirates, saying her trip to attract investments to the state was “very successful.” Arriving at the city airport at around 7 pm, the Chief Minister said she was happy that she could do something for her state. "It was a very good trip. I have not ever seen such a successful tour in my life. I am happy that I could do so much for Bengal," she told the reporters at Kolkata airport, as per PTI.
"The meetings were organised by FICCI, an Indian Chamber of Commerce. There were major MoUs signed,” she added.
Later, taking to X, Banerjee said that she was back in the city with "serious offers for investments and partnerships from Spain and Dubai".
"Back to Kolkata with serious offers for investments and partnerships from Spain and Dubai. Follow-up overseas delegations will come shortly and during BGBS in November for carrying forward what we started. I thank the Indian Embassies, CII, FICCI, ICC, accompanying industry-business delegates and the media fraternity for working hard towards a common mission. Jai Biswa Bangla! Jai Hind!," she posted on the microblogging site.
Banerjee was accompanied by Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi and other senior officials, industrialists and representatives of three major football clubs — Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting — on her visit on September 12, mainly to attract investment ahead of the Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled in November.
The Bengal government in Spain signed an MoU with Spanish football club La Liga to set up an academy in the state to train young talents. Former India cricket team captain, Sourav Ganguly joined the delegation in Madrid from London.
In Dubai, Banerjee held meetings with senior officials of the Lulu Group International and also with UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, who was present at the programme.