Industry interaction confines to Naidu praise

VISAKHAPATNAM: An ambitious programme to provide a platform for a high level delegation from Singapore to interact with the industrial community of Visakhapatnam failed to serve its purpose as the time for interaction was cut short with speakers utilising their time to praise the chief minister.

Around 400 top level officials, including the bigwigs from Vizag Port Trust, Vizag Steel Plant, pharmaceutical sector, IT industry, education, logistic, hospitality and other sectors assembled at Novotel Hotel, to interact with the Singapore delegation, but the meeting failed to present a comprehensive picture of the industrial sector in Visakhapatnam, forget a concrete proposal.

No speaker, except one or two, attempted to explain the business potential, available resources and infrastructural facilities available in Visakhapatnam.

All the invitees including VPT chairman MT Krishna Babu, GITAM President MVVS Murthi, government officials, industrialists, directors of various PSUs, and large number of representatives from hospitality and tourism sector assembled at the venue for the interface with the Singapore delegation. But, as the dignitaries arrived late the meeting took off at 1.45 pm and the invitees were made to wait for three hours.

The opening remarks of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who requested the participants to limit their speech to four minutes, itself were discouraging.

'The meeting failed to deliver. The delegates should get at least 10 minutes to explain resources available in Visakhapatnam. Then only the visiting delegation will be able to understand the business climate. Because of the three-hour delay, the meeting ended up being a farce,' the chief of a PSU lamented.

'The programme was not properly planned. Had the organisers informed us about the agenda, we would have come up with some presentations highlighting the strengths of Visakhapatnam.

Surprisingly, a majority of the speakers wasted their time praising the chief minister, which is highly inappropriate for a corporate meeting and is not professional,' said a top level management executive of another PSU.

The chief minister himself was put to much embarrassment as activist Kutikuppala Surya Rao exposed the industrial constraints of the city. Surya Rao in his address pointed out that no investor will come to the city if the government don't ensure adequate supply of water, infrastructural facilities and sanitation. Rao also pointed out that the government websites were not updated.

The participants, including Singapore Minister S Eeswaran, burst into laughter, as Surya Rao pointed out the lapses in facilities, leaving chief minister Chandrababu Naidu embarrassed. Majority of the participants were unhappy with the proceedings and they didn't hide their displeasure while emerging from the conference hall.