MP CM visits UK to strengthen partnership in smart cities and skills

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is visiting the United Kingdom on September 26-27 to promote the Global Investor Summit being held in Indore in October, and to explore partnerships with the UK on smart cities and skills.

The UK is India's partner country for the Global Investor Summit, which is the highest-profile biennial event for the state of Madhya Pradesh, and the forthcoming TECH Summit. The chief minister is leading a delegation of government officials from the commerce, industry, investment and employment departments.

The Chief Minister met the UK Secretary of State for International Development, The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, following her visit to Bhopal in August 2016 when the two last met.

Secretary of State for International Development (DFID), Priti Patel, said,"The UK has a long and special relationship with Madhya Pradesh. It is a relationship based on solid foundations and a shared history that has a bright future as our partnership moves forward. Our record of working together has achieved impressive results in health, livelihoods, governance and urban development. And as we move forwards we will strengthen our ties by focusing on wealth and job creation which will benefit both Madhya Pradesh and the UK India relationship through partnership working."

The Chief Minister will meet Rajesh Agarwal, Deputy Mayor of London for business. The two leaders will attend an event for the Madhya Pradesh diaspora community in London.

The UK is India's country partner in developing three smart cities, which includes Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Minister is meeting British businesses to learn more about their expertise in developing smart cities and will explore opportunities for British investors in the state's smart city programme. He will also lead a smart city roundtable and make a site visit to the Thames to observe how London uses technology to deal with waste water.

The UK has a robust technical assistance partnership with Madhya Pradesh on smart cities and urban development, and has multi-sector investments worth £6.5 million in the state. This delivers a key commitment agreed by the Prime Ministers of Britain and India in November 2015.