Global Investors Summit @ Vizag: Jagan govt to show the world ‘Advantage Andhra’

 The investor summit assumes significance due to its size and the venue — Vizag — which has been announced as Andhra's executive capital.

BySNV Sudhir

Published Nov 16, 2022 | 4:27 PMUpdatedNov 16, 2022 | 5:01 PM

A YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh delegation with Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in May this year. (Supplied)

The YSRCP government is gearing up to hold a mega event — Global Investors Summit — at Visakhapatnam on 3 and 4 March, 2023, to showcase “Advantage Andhra”.

The investors’ summit is being held for the first time after YSRCP came to power in 2019.

It assumes significance due to the size of the event and also the venue, Visakhapatnam, which the government wants to develop as the executive capital of the state as part of its three-capital policy.

Though there have been programmes like meeting with diplomats of several countries and with CEOs by the current government in the last few years, they were all small in scale.

Now, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government wants to make a strong pitch to attract investments from MNCs in several sectors.

International roadshows planned

The government is also planning to hold roadshows — both domestic and international — in several countries, inviting global investors, large corporates, and MNCs to participate in the proposed summit.

The roadshows are planned in Israel, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, the US, Switzerland, the UK, Germany, and the UAE.

“The world economy shut down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic till the beginning of this year. Now, the time is appropriate to hold the event as the Covid-19 bogey is behind us,” Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath told South First.

“The summit is being held with a focus on CEOs, CXOs, industry leaders, and trade ministers from around the world in the backdrop of the economy firing up.”

He added: “To collaborate with the best companies in the world and develop the state as the top destination for investments, the Andhra Pradesh government is set to showcase its business-friendly policies, world-class infrastructure facilities, and investment opportunities,” said the minister.

The summit is expected to focus on the thrust sectors of the state, like EVs & renewables, bulk drugs and pharma, MedTech, agro & food processing, auto & auto components, and IT & electronics, said Amarnath.

“Along with both domestic and international roadshows, we have also planned at least four thematic conferences in the run-up to the actual event scheduled in March. The government has planned conferences with the themes of maritime for port-led development, MSME, and primary sectors like agriculture and IT,” state industries director Srijana Gummala told South First.

The rose-ringed parakeet is being used as the logo of the summit, whose theme is “Advantage Andhra”.

“The form of the bird is such that it reminds of the globe and its circular formation, signifying the
wind beneath the wings that global investments can bring to the state,” said a senior government official.

“The flight of the bird also doubles up as a strong mnemonic for investors looking to establish their businesses in the state and expecting it to take flight and grow,” he added.

The logo was launched by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently.

State ranked one on EODB

Andhra Pradesh has topped the EODB rankings that were released in June this year.

Prompt clearance of industry approvals, handholding of investors, mapping recommendations to departments, and appointing nodal officers were taken into account — as part of the countrywide implementation of the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) prescribed by the Centre.

In the top achiever category, Andhra Pradesh scored highest with 97.89 percent. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on 30 June the assessment of States/UTs under BRAP 2020, the fifth edition of the exercise.

Andhra Pradesh, along with Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, was declared the “Top Achievers” based on the implementation of the plan.

Incidentally, the state Cabinet on 7 September gave a nod to green energy projects that have a collective investment of ₹81,043 crore.

Also, in a shot in the arm to the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government, the Centre in August granted in-principle approval for a ₹1,000-crore grant-in-aid for the creation of common infrastructure facilities in the Bulk Drug Park (BDP) proposed in Andhra Pradesh under a Central scheme.

The BDP will come up in the KP Puram and Kodada villages of the Thondagi Mandal of the East Godavari District.

Andhra Pradesh pipped states like Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu from the south in getting the grant in aid to set up the BDP.

A team from Andhra Pradesh led by Jagan also attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting held at Davos between 22 and 26 May.

Besides addressing global leaders about the industrial agenda for 2030, Jagan also did a lot of networking with world industry leaders to attract investments to Andhra Pradesh.

Global investors’ “partnership summits” conducted by the previous TDP government — incidentally also in Visakhapatnam — often came under intense criticism by the YSRCP, which was then in the Opposition.

The YSRCP would call them publicity stunts that did not yield any tangible result.