Venkaiah Naidu to visit Germany regarding investments in smart cities

Smart City Conference enables dialogue and exchange of information, ideas in respect of technology, in the area of smart cities

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will attend a three day conference on India's Smart City Mission to be held in Berlin, Germany from tomorrow with the objective of furthering cooperation with Germany and promoting investments.

Naidu will hold detailed talks with his German counterpart and senior officials on the road map for developing Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Kochi in Kerala and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu as smart cities with German assistance.

These three cities were identified for German collaboration further to Inter-Governmental Consultations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Dr.Angela Morkel in October,2015 in New Delhi.

A detailed presentation on smart city plans of these 3 cities will be made at the conference.

The Berlin visit of Naidu is aimed at intensifying high-level engagement for identifying new opportunities for German companies in the urban development sector offered by the initiative of development of 100 smart cities.

Dr. Barbara Hendricks, Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, Buildings and Nuclear Safety will also participate in the conference.

The Smart City Conference in Berlin enables dialogue and exchange of information, sharing of knowledge and ideas in respect of technology, innovation and best practises in the area of smart cities.

During his three day visit, Naidu will meet Speaker of Germany's Parliament and members of Inter-Parliamentary Group.

Naidu leaves for Berlin tonight and he will be accompanied by Additional Secretary and Mission Director of Smart City Mission Samir Sharma.