Even before Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the slew of measures to prop up the economy on Friday and Saturday, Tamil Nadu recorded an economic growth of 8.17 per cent during 2018-19 against the national growth rate of 6.81 per cent. Not satisfied with the growth rate, Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisami led a high-powered team of 18 comprising senior ministers and officials on a three-nation foreign tour to attract foreign direct investments in Tamil Nadu.

Their first port of call was the United Kingdom which was caught in the midst of Brexit chaos and was reeling under economic recession. It was hardly the time to solicit investments. Instead, the British managed to sell their services to Tamil Nadu. According to press releases put out by Tamil Nadu government’s department of information and public relations, the Chief Minister had signed three agreements in the health and education sector. The first was with a leading health developer, the International Skill Development Corporation to develop the skills of healthcare staff in the state.

Tamil Nadu is already a medical tourism destination and provides trained healthcare staff to other states and foreign countries. The second agreement was with King’s College, London, which will establish a campus in Tamil Nadu. The third was a statement of intent signed with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to improve methods to contain communicable diseases such as dengue and malaria. Expertise in this field is not lacking in the state. In the second leg, the team visited New York and signed 16 Memoranda of Understanding worth Rs 2,780 crore at an investors’ meet.

President Donald Trump is engaged in a tariff war with foreign countries, including India, and this may hardly be the time to seek American investment in Tamil Nadu. Before returning to Chennai, Palanisami and his team had a stop-over in Dubai, known for its shopping centres. When M Karunanidhi of the DMK was the Chief Minster, he sent his deputy, MK Stalin, seeking foreign aid for the Chennai Metro Rail and Hogenekkal Integrated Water Scheme and he succeeded in both.

The Palanisami team lacked focus. Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers are not known for touring foreign countries chasing investment for the state. Foreign investors choose Tamil Nadu as an investment destination because of its infrastructure and the strong foundation laid by the government of Kamaraj in the 1950s and availability of skilled labour. The AIADMK government of Palanisami has been unable to build on the foundation left behind by his predecessors.

The government has held two highly publicised Global Investors Meet, one in 2015 and the other in January this year and secured 304 Memoranda of Understanding for a total investment of Rs 3 lakh crore. None has taken off the ground so far. An opposition demand for a White Paper on the subject has been ignored. What is needed in Tamil Nadu today is a government that works. The present government is known for its collection.