Statement

of Professor Gita Gopinath, Economic Advisor to the Honble Chief

Minister of Kerala

I am very honored to have the opportunity to serve as the Economic Advisor to the
Honble Chief Minister Shree Pinarayi Vijayan. Kerala has made substantial progress
on social indicators like health and education and I hope to contribute towards
further developing sustainable policies for the state that address its unique
opportunities and challenges.

It is important to recognize that this is an honorary position, in that there is no
remuneration, no expectation that I will move to Thiruvananthapuram to engage on
a daily basis with the government or be involved in all its economic policy decisions.
I will continue as a full time professor at Harvard University and carry on my
commitments including research and teaching. My mandate as discussed with the
Honble CM is twofold:

First, I will respond to any requests from the Honble CM for advice on the
impact on Keralas economy of global, national and state events and policies.
Given my location, I anticipate most of this will be done remotely, rather than
in person.

Second, I hope to play a convening role to connect various state departments
to the knowledge leaders from around the world in sectors relevant to Kerala
like public finance, management, entrepreneurship, labor and development
economics.

In both these tasks, I see my role confined entirely to providing advice to the
Honble CM and to make connections for the various departments. It is then up to
the Honble CM to consider my advice, and up to the relevant departments to
continue conversations with the various sector experts. Given this advisory nature
of the appointment and my location, I do not anticipate frequent interactions with
the media to explain government policies or my opinion on those.

Kerala is my native state as my father is from Mayyil and my mother from
Kuttiattoor in Kannur district, so I am humbled by the opportunity to contribute my
skills and effort to the development of Kerala. I am hopeful that under the
leadership of the Honble CM the state will make great strides in achieving its
development goals.


Gita Gopinath
Harvard University
Cambridge, USA

Date: July 26, 2016