The 23rd edition of CII Partnership Summit-cum-Second Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment Summit got off to a colourful start here on Friday with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley praising high the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and stressing that the Centre would go the extra mile to develop the newly-carved out State on all fronts.
Mr. Jaitley was delivering the inaugural address at the sea-facing APIIC grounds, Harbour Park in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman.
About 2,000 delegates, including 350 from 50 countries, are attending the two-day summit being held here for the second successive year. Some initiatives of Mr. Naidu such as the introduction of CM’s Dashboard to monitor all developments on real time basis and use of technologies like Internet of Things for effective governance were lauded by prominent industrialists, including Kumarmangalam Birla and Baba Kayani.
Mr. Jaitley said that despite economy slowdown the world over, AP had maintained double digit growth for the past two years. He exuded the confidence that it would grow at 4 to 5 % higher than the nation’s GDP in the next few years.
“Despite injustice meted out to AP at the time of division by the previous government, AP is able to attract investors from all over the world due to pro-active policies. It is emerging as a vibrant economy on the east coast. A strong leadership with clear direction is an advantage for AP,” he said.
The sanction of Polavaram project as a national project as part of a special package by the NDA government would make AP an agriculture powerhouse. The ranking by World Bank as No.1 State in ‘ease of doing business’ would attract a lot of investors. He also pointed out how the Centre had helped AP in getting premier institutes such as the IIM and the IIT.
Describing as ‘revolutionary’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision on demonetisation and to roll out single tax regime through GST from September, Mr. Jaitley said it would pave the way for better tax compliance, more income to the coffers and elimination of corruption. The country was heading fast to transform from a cash economy to a banking economy.
Admitting that demonetisation shook everyone for sometime, he said the Indian economy was moving towards a positive directive notwithstanding so many challenges.
