File Photo: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu would tomorrow invite Singapore's Prime Minister for the foundation laying ceremony of the state's new capital Amaravati slated to be held on 'Vijaya Dasami' next month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already accepted the invitation for the October 22 event.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted our invitation to lay the foundation for Amaravati. I will be meeting Singapore Prime Minister (Lee Hsien Loong) tomorrow to invite him for the historic occasion on October 22nd," a state Government release quoted Mr Naidu, who is on a visit to Singapore, as having said at an event today.
Despite challenges, Mr Naidu said the Government sees capital development as a great advantage for the state.
On the second day of his visit to the city-state, Naidu had a meeting with S Iswaran, a Singapore Minister, and discussed the plans for development of capital.
Singapore Government has prepared the Master Plans for the three-layered administrative headquarters of Andhra Pradesh - the seed capital, capital city and the capital region. Naidu is seeking the participation of Singapore in capital development.
After a lunch-on meeting with Mr Iswaran, Mr Naidu took part in a public lecture at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), which was moderated by Ambassador Gopinath Pillai, a Singaporean diplomat of Indian origin.
Delivering the welcome address, Mr Pillai said the overwhelming response at ISAS is a mark of Mr Naidu's popularity in Singapore.
"He built the IT sector in (undivided) Andhra Pradesh and is famously known to be the brain behind Cyberabad. Now, he is building the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati."
Explaining the advantages of the new Andhra Pradesh, Pillai said the State has rich natural and human resources. Observing that his country is moving in the right direction (on the path of growth), Naidu said India, China and the US will be the leading economies in the world by 2050.
"We have a long sea coast. We are the only State with such a long coast (about 970km) on the East and hence, we aim to develop this as logistics hub of Southeast Asia. We are ranked second in cargo handling in the country and we will reach the top position," he said.
Recalling his first visit to Singapore last year, Mr Naidu said, "I first asked them to come up with a Master Plan for our Capital. They did. Now, I'm now asking Singapore to join us to build our capital. I'm hopeful they will come forward to do this as well."
The Chief Minister said Amaravati would not only serve as an administrative area but also model itself as an economy and knowledge driver.
Mr Naidu highlighted that Andhra Pradesh has been ranked second among all the states in terms of ease of doing business in a recent World Bank survey.
"I'm happy to inform you that our state has been ranked second in 'Ease of Doing Business' by World Bank after Gujarat. I'm confident that we will rise to the top spot next year."
From tourism to logistics, agriculture, industries, infrastructure and other sectors, the CM elaborated on the potential for investments in Andhra Pradesh, the release said.
"We are aiming at fouble-digital growth. I invite each one of you to come to AP at least with one project. Come, experience AP and invest in our state," he said.
Replying to query at the session, Mr Naidu said his Government has "pooled" over 33,000 acres under its "land pooling" system where people responded to his call and voluntarily gave their land for capital development.