Top representatives from trade and industry on Monday made a strong pitch for sanction of Rs.100 crore under Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development and Exports (ASIDE) by the Central government for development of iconic export promotion buildings like World Trade Centre, Trade Facilitations Centre and Business Incubation Centre for MSMEs in the city.
Incentives as given to construction of an international convention centre in Visakhapatnam to boost exports should also be extended for augmenting required infrastructure to promote Visakhapatnam as an ideal destination for investment, the representatives told Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce.
The committee is headed by BJP Chandan Mitra. Local MP and BJP State president K. Haribabu, who is a member of the committee, coordinated an interaction programme with various organisations at Hotel Novotel.
Earlier, Visakhapatnam Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu explained to the committee on the plans to develop the port as a gateway port.
The committee members visited various facilities in the port and appreciated the efforts to make it a clean port by reducing pollution.
During the interaction, R.V.S. Raju from Confederation of Indian Industry, G. Sambasiva Rao from Andhra Chamber of Commerce Industry Federation, O. Naresh Kumar from Vizag Development Forum, V. Padmanabham from Seafood Exporters’ Association of India and others emphasised the need to sanction funds and various premier institutes to promote exports and imports. Stating that several seafood and pharma consignments were being diverted to Chennai or Hyderabad for want of temperature-controlled storage and air cargo complex at Visakhapatnam International Airport, the committee was asked to convince the Ministry of Civil Aviation to complete the work on air cargo complex at the earliest.
