Amaravati to Get Punggol-style Integrated Township: Nara Lokesh

A delegation from AP led by Lokesh visited Singapore on Monday to attend a joint implementation steering committee under the aegis of Singapore’s commerce and industry ministry.
Lokesh said AP was planning to develop the Amaravati economic region in a big way with Singapore’s support. “We have issued a notification inviting interested partners to submit their ‘Request for Proposal’ to take part in the development of Amaravati economic region.”
He asked the JISC to work out modalities to seek World Bank support for development of the Amaravati economic region.
Lokesh called for exploration of opportunities to promote commerce, trade and business from Andhra Pradesh to South East Asia and West Asia via Singapore. He noted that AP too was intending to become a global destination for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) similar to Singapore.
The AP minister called for a study of Singapore Suntec city to take up MICE in AP. He wanted to use the Singapore experience to strengthen the state’s Real Time Governance System and vowed to create a congenial atmosphere to the companies that expressed their willingness to invest in AP.
Lokesh noted that the partnership between the governments of AP and Singapore had become strong and called upon the working groups to consult him every month to implement the plans incorporated in the MoU.
Lokesh recalled how a six-member delegation of ministers from AP visited Singapore two weeks ago to undergo a training programme as part of Singapore-AP Governance Excellence (SAGE) for a week and shared their experience with them. Some 37 government teachers from AP completed their training in Singapore, he noted.
He vowed to incorporate their experience and lessons they learnt in Singapore into the AP’s educational system.
Notably, AP entered into an agreement with Singapore for development of an integrated model township and the Amaravati economic region and digital transformation/real time governance in AP last November. A joint implementation steering committee was set up.
A joint implementation working committee was also constituted to see the works approved by the JISC are taken forward.
Lokesh visited Suntec city in Singapore and met DP Urban Architect firm director Anandan Karunakaran. The minister said he wanted AP to become a global centre for MICE and that the state is coming up with a new MICE policy to realise it.
“We are going to set up special bureaus in Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Tirupati to give requisite permissions in an expeditious manner through a single window to the international event organisers,” he said.
Lokesh said that in the next five years, AP’s hotel strength will be increased four fold to arrange 20,000 rooms as several prominent national and international hospitality firms were coming to Amaravati. He announced plans to develop a world class MICE centre in Visakhapatnam in the wake of the Visakha coastline hosting global tech giants like Google, TCS and Cognizant.
Lokesh met Singapore’s Commodities Intelligence Centre CEO Gloria Wu and called for cooperation between AP and CIC in seafood, agriculture, minerals and pharmaceuticals sectors to promote commerce research and for exchange of commodities intelligence information.
Gloria Wu explained about the significant role being played by the CIC platforms and promised Lokesh to extend all support to AP.