Emphasizing the strategic advantages of Andhra Pradesh, CII’s Southern Region, Chairman, Mr Kamal Bali highlighted Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam as ideal cities having the potential to emerge as growth centres of the state.

He said that with India’s status as a leading global destination for the services sector and the presence of Fortune 500 companies in the country, Mr. Bali noted that this is the opportune time to position these twin cities as services hubs of India. 

He reiterated CII’s commitment to collaborate with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and towards this endeavor, CII urged the Andhra Pradesh Government to set up a Govt. of Andhra Pradesh – CII Joint Consultative Forum. 

This forum would focus on fortifying emerging industries, devising strategic frameworks, implementing sector-specific reforms to attract international investments, and facilitating government-industry partnerships to formulate policies conducive to industrial growth. 

Mr. Kamal Bali also spotlighted the need to increase manufacturing investments in the state and suggested that the state could explore investments in sunrise sectors such as Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM), Defence & Aerospace, Pharma & Biotechnology, EVs among others.  This initiative would also help in the growth of MSMEs in the state.

Dr M Lakshmi Prasad, Chairman, CII Andhra Pradesh highlighted the seafood exports in the state and said that AP currently contributes the highest share to the country’s seafood exports.

‘We see tremendous growth opportunities for the state and the encouragement to food processing industries and the development of storage infrastructure will further enhance AP’s capacity for seafood production and export said Mr Prasad. 

Mr NMP Jeyesh, Regional Dir, CII Southern Region also participated at the media interaction.