AP can become logistics hub for South-East Asia, says CII
AP has second-longest coastline in India and it can act as an advantage to develop Vizag as gateway ports for South-East Asia, leveraging India’s ‘Look East’ policy
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) sees huge scope to transform Andhra Pradesh into a logistics hub by giving a boost to port-led development taking advantage of second largest coastline after Gujarat.
CII Southern Region Chairman Kamal Bali told Bizz Buzz on Thursday a day before interaction with Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath and top honchos of various industries, that they wanted to have regular coordination with the Andhra Pradesh government to take its industrial landscape to the next level. Bali, who is the Managing Director of Volvo Group India Pvt Ltd, said Visakhapatnam and Chennai could be converted into gateway ports for Exim cargo of South East Asia due to their strategic location and India’s ‘Look East’ Policy.’
Stating that Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada could be developed as hubs for service sector, he pledged wholehearted support to the AP government to execute policies in this direction.
He hailed Prime Minister Gati Shakti program and underlined the need to slash logistics cost. “In India the average logistics cost is 14 to 15 per cent compared 9 to 10 per cent in Europe.’
Bali said CII is working in convincing Fortune 500 companies to open their centres in AP and Telangana as they are showing interest to invest in tier two and three cities. He said they will pursue with States for formation of joint consultative committees for establishing better linkage with the industries and investors in addressing various issues.
He saw good investment opportunities in AP for defence, aquaculture, ESDM manufacturing and few other sunrise sectors. CII AP Chairman Dr Lakshmi Prasad said there is scope for establishing two of the five aqua parks announced in interim budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in AP. He said the State accounts for 43 per cent of exports from India.
Lakshmi Prasad, Managing Director of Sujay Biotech Pvt Ltd, said MSMEs in AP are performing well on productivity and exports front.
Earlier, Bali held a discussion with Lakshmi Prasad and others on implementation of nine tracks chosen by CII Southern Council for implementation by 2047.
The tracks include people and culture rejuvenation, holistic sustainability and ESG, technology adoption and digital transformation, embracing energy transition, innovation and startup ecosystems, manufacturing excellence, partnerships and collaborations MSMEs, and brand building and sectoral promotion.
