Naidu promises sops to Singapore investors

Hyderabad, Nov 14 (INN): On the final day of his visit to Singapore, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu delivered the Key Note address at the 9th International Conference on 'The State of South Asia' at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore on Friday.

The Chief Minister began his speech by quoting Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's words: "Unless India stands up to world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength." He said, I have come here to seek investments and added that Singapore, being a small country, has made impressive progress. He added that every minister in Singapore has clarity of thought.

Expressing his openness in accepting ideas, he said, "I will take ideas from this think tank and scholars conducting research here.'

The Chief Minister said that after 25 years, India now has a stable government which is a strong and growth-oriented government under Prime Minister Modi.

Stating that 'India is hungry for development', the Chief Minister said that this is a one-time opportunity for Singapore to participate in building Andhra Pradesh's capital. He added: 'You have to participate in competition and win.'

Later in the day, the Chief Minister met heads of top business corporations today and gave a power point presentation on investment opportunities. He said: 'We want to build a great capital. Our cities should become models of liveable cities.'

The Chief Minister made a strong pitch and assured investors that there wouldn't be power problems in AP. 'My target is to provide 20-30 Mbps high-speed broadband connection to every household in the next 2 years and upgrade speed further,' he said.

He said that the state government has plans to create smaller airports to connect them to major airports. He added that AP is working on a 'deemed approval model of clearances'. If a request is not responded to within 30 days, that means the approval is deemed to have passed, he added.

He told investors that the government will appoint escort officers for major investment projects. It will then be the officer's responsibility to get clearances, he added. Stating that he would create a massive land bank for industries, the Chief Minister said that this will pave way for creating industrial townships.

In the meeting, one of the industrialists has evinced interest to invest in Coffee, Dairy and Cashew plantation.

The Chief Minister added that Andhra Pradesh will have an Education Advisory Board in the state with best people from across the state.

Naidu later visited the Jurong Island that has over 100 companies. He then joined a meeting with the Singapore Tourism Board.