CII plans southern synergies

The Confederation of Indian Industry "� Southern Region (CII-SR) plans to build 'southern synergies' under which it will promote the best practices evolved by each state in the southern region and enable the replication of such successful stories in other states of the region, according to Pradipta K Mohapatra, chairman, CII- southern region.

He said Tamil Nadu has successful records in promoting tier II, III cities, which could be replicated in other states. Similarly agriculture and agro-based industries from Andhra Pradesh have made rapid strides across the country.

Kerala's success in promoting tourism, Karnataka's good practices on the innovation front and Puducherry's livelihood enhancement story could be replicated in other parts of the region, he said announcing the theme of CII-SR for 2007-08 'Building People. Building India "� The Southern Leap Forward.'

CII also plans a visioning process for each of the southern states focusing on their success stories in association with leading consulting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG, and management institutes such as IIM-Bangalore.

The vision agenda will be prepared by involving all sections of the society. The vision document is expected to be ready by January or February next year.

Mohapatra said the key focus of CII this year would be on skills development and employability, affirmative action, promotion of sustainable cities and corporate social responsibility initiative across the region.

As part of this, CII would train 2000 SC/ST youth in Tamil Nadu in vocational skills. It will forge an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to train 2,000 SC/ST youth and will impart tourism skills to SC/ST youth in Puducherry.

CII will also develop an education hub of South East Asia Livelihood enhancement at Puducherry.