Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu began a week-long visit to the United States of America during which he would hold several meetings with the ‘who’s who’ of the industry to assure them that Andhra Pradesh is the right place for investments and innovations. He sought all possible support from California in technology, industry and agriculture.
On arrival, the Chief Minister received a warm welcome at the San Francisco Airport from several enthusiastic supporters from NRI TDP, Bay Area, AP Janma Bhumi and AP NRT wings. Chandrababu Naidu held his first meeting with. Mike McNamara, CEO, Flextronics, and then flew to Sacramento, the Capital of California, to meet its Governor. In his interaction with Mike McNamara, the Chief Minister spoke about the enormous advantages Andhra Pradesh has to offer in terms of location and accessibility.
He said, “Our State is centrally located in India’s East coast and is accessible to Southeast Asian countries. We have well maintained airports, deep draft ports and we provide 24×7 quality power. Not just these our skilled labour force is an added advantage for companies who are looking at business friendly destinations.” He also highlighted the friendly business atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh besides citing that it stood first in the Ease of Doing Business rankings. The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh is a potential logistics hub of India and that it is the right time for Flex to expand the scope of their existing operations in Visakhapatnam.
While Mike McNamara expressed his intent to pursue their expansion plans soon, Chandrababu Naidu exhorted him to expedite the issue. The Chief Minister later informed Mike McNamara about the digital initiatives being taken up by his government. Besides inviting them to expand their operations, the Chief Minister also assured all the needed help from his State in this regard.
Meeting with Governor of California
The Chief Minister, immediately flew to Sacramento and met California Governor Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown Jr and provided an insight about the political atmosphere in the State and apprised him of the key role the Telugu Desam Party has been playing in the national politics over the years. He sought California’s help in collaborating in areas such as technology, industry and agriculture. He said Andhra Pradesh would emerge as the gateway to Southeast Asia given its long coast line and the presence of deep water ports.
When the Chief Minister met Simon Segars, CEO of ARM Holdings, the latter apprised him of their activities and indicated that they are concentrating more on IOT. For his part, the Chief Minister explained how Andhra Pradesh was integrating technology in governance and taking welfare programs to the people. (NSS)