Andhra CM meets Mayor of Busan on last leg of S Korea visit

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on the last leg of his South Korea tour, met with Mayor of Busan, Suh Byungsoo, on Tuesday.

Byungsoo welcomed the chief minister and said he had heard a lot about his dynamic leadership leading to significant progress in Andhra Pradesh.

The chief minister thanked him for all the courtesy extended to the delegation, and ensuring their movements between cities were smooth.

He spoke about his admiration for the pace of economic development in South Korea, especially in sectors like electronics and chemicals.

Naidu said he was also very impressed by the port activity, and that one port there was handling more cargo than all ports in India put together.

He added the AP-South Korea relations were taking off, especially after Kia Motors came to Andhra Pradesh.

"Just as you recovered and grew rapidly after the Second World War, we aim to recover from our crisis, the bifurcation," he said.

"Andhra Pradesh is almost as big as South Korea and has a similar population. We both have a long coastline, and we both have creative and dynamic people," he added.

Naidu further said Andhra Pradesh was strong in knowledge and education, and had a potential in aquaculture. He said these were the sectors that could strengthen the relation between the two states.

He requested the Mayor to visit Andhra Pradesh as the state's guest, as he was keen to work with Busan.

The Mayor responded positively, agreeing that Busan and Andhra Pradesh had common features in ports and aquaculture.

He added it would be a good idea to establish a sister state relationship. "So far, we have been focussing on Japan, China and the US. We are now keen to establish economic ties with other countries as well," he said.

"I will send a suitable delegation for the Partnership Summit in February," he said in response to the chief minister's invite.