CM Revanth Reddy, delegation set off for Davos to take part in WEF

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday set off for Davos in Switzerland, along with his entourage, to take part in the 54th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) between January 15 and 19, marking the first time the Telangana stae delegation is led by the Chief Minister.

Revanth Reddy had earlier in the day participated in the inaugural of the Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Imphal, Manipur.

IT and legislative affairs minister D. Sridhar Babu will accompany him for the meeting, along with a delegation of officials.

The delegation will meet CEOs and CXOs of top global companies like Novartis, Medtronic, AstraZeneca, Google, Uber, Mastercard, Bayer, LDC and UPL, among others, to seek investments in the state. They will also meet major Indian firms, including Tata, Wipro, HCL Tech, JSW, Godrej, Airtel and Bajaj, among others.

The delegation will interact with leading business chambers like CII and Nasscom, as well as media networks.

Reddy and Babu will meet the top management of the WEF, including its president Brende Borge and sector heads.

Telangana state has a strong institutional engagement with WEF, given that Hyderabad is the only city in India to host WEF’s Centre for 4th Industrial Revolution (C4IR) for the healthcare and life sciences sector. In addition, WEF is an active supporter of multiple tech initiatives in the agriculture and food processing sectors.

In a release, Sridhar Babu said, “The CM was invited by the WEF to participate in this year’s event soon after he assumed office. Since Telangana formation, this is the first time for the Chief Minister to lead the official delegation.  Principal secretary (IT and Industries) and principal secretary to CM are also part of our delegation. My team has worked out a very packed schedule at Davos. CM and I will be meeting as many as 70 industry leaders in 3 days (sic).”

WEF is an invite-only event and attracts participation from over 3,000 delegates every year that includes representatives from 100 governments, the top 1,000 global companies, all leading international organisations, NGOs and media.  

“We are leaving no stone unturned to make it a very successful and productive trip. We expect to sign several MOUs and close significant investment deals in different sectors like pharma, electronics, data centres, defence and aerospace, food processing and renewable energy. We will be sharing more details about these every day from Davos,” Sridhar Babu said.

“The CM will be sharing his views during the panel discussion on transforming healthcare digitally, which is also a key priority for the state government. He will also be attending another high-level WEF event on ‘Food Systems and Local Action’, where he will speak about impact of climate change on agri-economy and measures to promote climate-resilient agriculture while protecting farmers’ livelihoods,” he said.