Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to visit Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. Besides addressing the CEOs of Japanese companies, he would also have one-to-one interactions with them. The Indian Embassy in Japan was trying to schedule a meeting with Japanese Premier, Shinzo Abe, but the meeting has not been finalised, Communications Advisor to the A.P. Government, Parakala Prabhakar said.
The Chief Minister is scheduled to sign six MOS during his six day visit, seeking Japanese financial assistance and technical expertise in different fields, including building of the new capital city. While four of the MoUs would be with Sumitomo Corporation, another one would be signed with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Commerce.
The sixth MoU would be with NEDO ( New Energy and Industrial Technology Development) on promoting new types of clean and safe energy.
Through other MoUs, the Sumitomo Corporation would also help the State Government to seek technical and financial help for building Smart Cities and mobilise funds from other Asian countries.
Mr. Naidu will be leading an 18-member official delegation. Another 30-40 members from trade and industry bodies like FICCI and CII would be accompanying the Chief Minister, Mr Prabhakar said.
The State Government prepared video presentations and brochures both in English and Japanese detailing the opportunities for investments in various sectors. The brochure gives a snapshot of the “Sunrise State” and describes it as a “credible investment destination”.
Asked why Mr. Naidu was visiting Japan, Mr. Prabhakar said Japan had already committed $ 30 billion towards India during the recent visit of Japanese premier and the State Government was keen to leverage as much as possible from that.
The brochure mentions that the State has a long coastline of 974 km and that the ports in AP have strategic advantage compared to other ports in the country. Among the top industrial sectors, it lists fabricated metal products, electrical equipment, tobacco, textiles, non-metallic minerals, chemical products and electricity (non-coal based thermal).
On the industrial front, the brochure lists $ 10,000 million Petrochemical Complex at Machilipatnam, electronic clusters ( $100 million each) at Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Hindupur and Mega food Parks in all districts ( $ 50 million each).