Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh and Russia on Wednesday discussed ways to enhance cooperation in a wide range of sectors as Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and minister for Trade and Industry, Russian Federation, Denis Manturov vowed to take forward the special bilateral relationship.
A Russian delegation, led by Mr Denis Manturov is on a visit to Andhra Pradesh and a high-level meeting was held on Wednesday evening here.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister highlighted the various investment opportunities and strategic advantages Andhra Pradesh has. The Chief Minister mentioned that this is the right time to invest in India and when compared to other states, Andhra Pradesh can provide an excellent market for investments in a wide range of sectors given the availability of rich natural resources. He highlighted areas such as aerospace and defence manufacturing, automobile and auto components, biotechnology, electronics, energy, mineral-based industries, petroleum, petrochemicals, leather, textiles and apparel for possible collaboration. Besides this, the Chief Minister said that he is looking for active cooperation with Russia in the fields of defence and aerospace.
The Chief Minister extended a warm welcome to Russian investors who are interested in collaboration either with the government or with any private firm for setting up of a steel plant in the Rayalaseema region.
Talking about the strengths Russia possess, the Chief Minister said that Russia’s population is low when compared to India but the country has the best technologies in the world along with strong natural resources.
The CM said that while the world economy is moving slowly, the Indian economy is growing at a rate of 7.5 per cent and within that, AP is growing at 10.99 per cent. It is the only state which has a double-digit growth rate.
The Chief Minister said he wants AP to be among the top three states by 2022, number one state by 2029 and the best destination by 2050 with a high index of happiness.
Explaining the bountiful natural resources of the state, the Chief Minister said that when compared to other states Andhra Pradesh has excellent reserves of gas, oil, bauxite, barite, granite, limestone and also beach sand. He also mentioned that Russia provides good opportunities for Indian investors and one can choose to invest in the pharma sector.
In his closing remarks, the Chief Minister said that the government is more than willing to help investors find business in AP and that Wednesday's meeting was historic for talking Russia -Andhra Pradesh partnership to a higher level.
