Naidu studies Singapore for AP Capital

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who has been claiming that he will transform the truncated AP into another Singapore on all fronts, on Wednesday took guided tour of Singapore city on the first day of his three-day visit to the island nation.

Naidu, who is planning to build a riverfront capital for residuary AP on the banks of the Krishna River, on Wednesday visited Marina Bay Sands Sky Park, which is one of the trademarks of Singapore, and also paid a visit to the Centre for Liveable Cities to study Singapore's best urban practices.

At the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), Naidu was briefed by the executive director of CLC, Khoo Teng Chye, about the best urban planning practices of the City State. During the meeting, Naidu shared his vision of development of mega cities and smart cities in AP with the CLC executive director.

Naidu studied Singapore's integrated efforts to minimise solid waste through recycling, purchase of recycled products and provision of waste audits. He also met experts from national water agency, Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore, which is the sole body responsible for the collection, production, distribution and reclamation of water in the city.

The chief minister also took a Singapore River Cruise from Clarke Quay into Marina Bay to study Singapore River Clean-up and understand the development of Singapore River Tourism District. 'This will help AP in developing its capital on the riverfront and also give a fillip to beach tourism in the State,' Naidu said in a press release.

Earlier in the day, Naidu had a meeting with S Iswaran, second minister of trade and industry of Singapore, where both leaders exchanged views on developing trade-business relations between AP and Singapore.

'As he wants to develop a series of ports along the 1,000 km-long coast of AP, the Chief Minister tried to know how the island nation developed several ports across the country within a short span,' K Lakshminarayana, director APSSDC, who is accompanying Naidu during the visit, told Express from Singapore.

Besides, finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, municipal administration minister P Narayana, state government communications advisor Parakala Prabhakar and senior officials from planning, infrastructure and investments, industries departments are part of the visiting team.