Andhra Pradesh has potential to tackle food crisis, says WEF chief 

VIJAYAWADA: On the inaugural day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Summit-2022 at Davos in Switzerland, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy emphasised the need for modernisation of the manufacturing sector to make the State a manufacturing hub with focus on green energy. 

While Jagan advocated for key infrastructure and port-led industrialisation, he received appreciation for the education and health policies being pursued by the State government as the sectors were seen as a potential area for investments.The chief minister met WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Prof Klaus Schwab, who was reportedly impressed with Andhra Pradesh.

Pointing out that the State acts as the food hub of India as it has the largest rice belt, Schwab emphasised on the important role that Andhra Pradesh could play in addressing food shortages. He welcomed the advanced manufacturing partnership and extended WEF’s commitment during their meeting to discuss the objectives laid out in the agreement.

Jagan discussed with Schwab the strategic priorities of the State such as transforming governance, investing in future in areas of education, healthcare, upskilling, economic growth and recovery, infrastructure development and port-led industrialisation and more importantly, how the WEF platform could be leveraged to meet the environment and social governance objectives of Andhra Pradesh.

The chief minister interacted with Pedro Gomez, Head of Shaping the Future of Mobility, and D Maya Ben Dror, Sustainable Automotive and Mobility at WEF, regarding ‘Shaping the Future of Mobility’ and ‘Moving India’, an initiative for which Andhra Pradesh is the first State to be selected. 

Jagan discussed with them the evolution of green mobility and challenges associated with battery disposal to ensure that the transition to green mobility is net zero.Ideas related to integrating renewable energy resources with electric mobility charging infrastructure, generating green hydrogen to make the transition greener, and enabling sustainable manufacturing were also discussed.

The WEF and AP government also exchanged platform partnership for “Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains”, through which the State will be integrated with the Global Network of Advanced Manufacturing Hubs (AMHUBs).In his meeting with WEF head of health and healthcare Dr Shyam Bishen, CM Jagan discussed collaborating with the Forum on healthcare, biotechnology and innovation. 

Bishen also shared his thoughts regarding the initiatives taken by the Andhra Pradesh government in building a resilient healthcare system through the YSR Village Health Clinics for every 2,000 population, village and ward secretariats, decentralisation of administration, ensuring schemes and service benefits to all citizens, universal health coverage—Dr YSR Arogyasri— an end-to-end cashless health care service, among others.

Further, Jagan looked up the WEF platform for Health and Healthcare to explore actionable partnerships to scale up the health initiatives in the State and to set up multi-specialty hospitals across the districts.
Later, the CM met Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Global Chairman Hans-Paul Burkner and discussed opportunities emerging in India, specifically in Andhra Pradesh, with the global diversification of supply chains.

He emphasised the importance of having a single-point interface to ensure seamless facilitation of investments. He regarded the availability of land and transparent labour contracts of utmost importance to global investors, in addition to accessibility to connectivity and infrastructure.Jagan also pointed out that the State’s top rank in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ratings, the port-led infrastructure and accessibility to the ports makes Andhra Pradesh the ideal destination as the gateway to the east. 

Further, Burkner noted that the investments and initiatives being taken by the State in ensuring that primary education and healthcare reaches every one, besides the skill development programmes with efficient workforce, will attract investors to the State. 

The chief minister also interacted  briefly with Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray and Adani Group of Companies Chairman Gautam Adani.Earlier in the day, Jagan inaugurated the AP Pavilion with the slogan ‘People, Progress and Possibilities’, which explained the government’s various policies besides the geographic advantage with the long coastline among other key  areas for business partnerships.

Agenda for Day-2
Jagan will speak at a public session on Future-Proofing Health Systems and meet Tech Mahindra CEO & MD CP Gurnani, Dassault Systèmes CEO Bernard Charlès, Hero MotoCorp chairman & CEO Pawan Munjal, among others