Andhra Pradesh lines up 6 MoUs during Naidu's Japan visit

In his second overseas tour in a month, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, along with his ministerial delegation, will sign six MoUs in Japan covering sectors including agriculture and food processing, power, modern urban transport systems and clean energy.

During his five-day visit starting from November 24, Naidu would  meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe besides making a strong pitch for investment from Japanese business corporations.       

“In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Andhra Pradesh government will interact with the Japanese business pioneers and also make presentations on potential investment opportunities in the local Japanese language,” said Parakala Prabhakar, communications adviser to AP government. Naidu would covers the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.    

Of the planned MoUs, at least four of them will be inked with Sumitomo Corporation in the areas of food processing, employing modern agriculture equipment, securing funding for the proposed 4,000-Mw coal-fired thermal power plant in Srikakulam district and on strategies in waste management and latest surface transport models.

Sumitomo would bring on board development partners besides engaging with the Japan International Cooperation Association (Jica) and industry and commerce bodies for mopping up project funding.

Others include, MoUs with the Japan’s New Energy Development Organisation for a clean and safe energy generation and with the country’s ministry for international trade and industry.

The delegation will also hold discussions with telecom and Internet major Softbank; electronics major Panasonic; Hitachi, Mitsubishi Corporation, Maruti Suzuki, Shin Maywa, port development company Nippon Yusen Kaisha  and Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ.  

With the Japanese side having earlier made a $30-billion investment commitment in the country in the next one decade, the Andhra Pradesh government is keen on reaping the first-mover advantage in attracting new investments to kickstart the economic activity in the truncated state. A delegation from Japan had visited AP showing interest in developing the new capital soon after Naidu assumed office.   

Early November Naidu had visited Singapore seeking the latter's help in developing physical infrastructure in the proposed new capital city. The Andhra Pradesh government recently announced modalities for building the capital, for which it had proposed to acquire 30,000 hectares across the River Krishna in Guntur district.

Speaking to mediapersons, Prabhakar said, “the idea is to place the state as the perfect gateway for achieving the objectives of the Union government’s Make In India campaign.”