The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, and a delegation led by Steven Ciobo, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Minister for Trade and Investment, Australia, have discussed areas of collaboration in infrastructure, mining, agro-processing, fisheries, skill development, financial services and opportunities in the capital region.
During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between AP Mining Development Corporation (APMDC) and NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Australia’s NSL Consolidated Ltd.
The agreement is for beneficiation of low-grade iron ore from reserves in Kurnool and Kadapa.
The Australian delegation consisted of businessmen, and industrialists operating in financial sector, pharmaceutical industry, food-processing, energy and infrastructure.
The Chief Minister briefed the delegation about the advantages of Andhra Pradesh and highlighted the common areas of collaboration. He said infrastructure development (airports, ports, roads, inland waterways and inter-linking of rivers), skill development (to build capacities) and development of a world-class capital city are priority areas.
Chandrababu Naidu said that he plans to make Andhra Pradesh a medical tourism hub and explained that Vizag has a good pharmaceutical industry base.
He also invited Australian delegates to take part in Sunrise AP Global Investment Summit to be held at Visakhapatnam in October.