'Advantage AP' to be hallmark of GIS 2023

Visakhapatnam: With encouraging response to invitations being sent to several investors and experts, 'Advantage Andhra Pradesh' will become the USP for the Global Investors' Summit (GIS) 2023 being hosted by the State government here on March 3 and 4.

While Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will be the event partner, KPMG has been chosen as the knowledge partner.

The government has identified 13 focus sectors for the GIS for attracting sector-specific investment opportunities namely aerospace and defence, agri and food processing, automobile and electric vehicles, electronics and IT, healthcare and medical equipment, industrial and logistics infrastructure, MSME and startups and innovation, petroleum; petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and renewable energy.

Buoyed by its success in attracting FDI into various sectors, the AP Government during roadshows planned in various parts of the country and abroad, will try to convince the investors to set up their projects in AP. The officials and the Ministers will showcase the State's record in retaining No. 1 status in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) by adopting holistic socioeconomic progress and throwing up a myriad of opportunities in the thriving, as well as the focus sectors of the economy.

Arrangements for the event were reviewed at a meeting with the industrialists and other stakeholders on Wednesday in the presence of Industries and Commerce Minister Gudivada Amarnath, Special Chief Secretary R Karikal Valavan, Director of Industries G Srijana and other senior officials.

After the meeting Amarnath told the media that GIS being held on such a grand scale in the backdrop of development of three industrial corridors across AP will change the industrial landscape of the State as per the vision prepared by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy with the support of the Central Government.

He said 50,000 acres is being acquired including 6,500 acres in Visakhapatnam-Anapalle area for establishing industries as part of corridor development. He said the Chief Minister will attend all the sessions adding the GIS will be quite different from the Partnership Summits organised during the erstwhile TDP regime.

The Minister spoke about plans to showcase the State as the foremost destination for industrial investments in India. He mentioned that the State is uniquely blessed with a 974 km long coastline and numerous ports that have brought unique recognition and make it known as "Gateway to the East."

He added how AP is the only State in India to have three industrial corridors (VCIC, CBIC, HBIC), which cut across its geography and its network of highways and railways provide excellent connectivity to large consumption centers across the South and East India.

At the review meeting, Karikal Valaven, briefed about the advantages available in the State and described how AP provides an excellent ecosystem to industrial units with its large parcels of land, plug-and-play infrastructure, ample warehousing capacity, access to multiple ports, and surplus water and power.

Earlier, Srijana flagged off the proceedings by briefing the participants about the first edition of GIS and spoke about the outline of the two-day summit that will see participation from international and domestic investors, policymakers, diplomatic missions and investment bodies, country business delegations, influencers, industry associations, members of the emerging economy and trade bodies to explore opportunities and enter into long-term partnerships.

Srijana mentioned that as part of the summit, the State has planned Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) meetings, keynote speeches and sector-specific plenary sessions.