Chief Minister in China-Successful ten day visit
Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
All-round development in the Telangana State in general and on the
industrial front in particular has attracted many individuals and organizations
within the country and abroad. On several occasions invitations have been pouring
in from several international organizations requesting Chief Minister Sri K.
Chandrashekhar Rao to visit their country. One such was from the Switzerland
based “World Economic Forum (WEF)”, which is committed to improving the state
of the world. In a letter addressed to CM, the Managing Director and Member of
the Managing Board Phillip Rosler in the last week of July 2015 extended an
invitation to him to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New
Champions 2015, to be held in Dalian, People’s Republic of China, on 9-11
September in close collaboration with Chinese Government.
In his invitation the MD mentioned that, given the unique challenging
task of administering inclusive growth in India’s most newly formed state
(Telangana), the Chief Minister’s views will add great value to the
conversations on infrastructure development, urbanization and innovation led
development. The CM was also requested to bring a business delegation of
non-forum member companies to actively participate in the deliberations.
In the invitation letter it is further mentioned that, as the foremost
global meeting on innovation, science and technology, the proposed annual
meeting of the new champions convenes the next generation of fast growing
enterprises shaping the future of business and society and leaders from major
multinationals, government, media, academia and civil society. It was further
mentioned that the World Economic Forum that is now officially recognized as an
International Institution for public private cooperation, feels that the Chief
Minister’s and his team’s contributions to the high level discussions during
the leading annual meeting are highly anticipated as they will help advance
understanding around how technology and innovation will shape inclusive,
sustainable and economic value. Since its inception in 1971, the World Economic Forum has become the
world’s foremost multi stakeholder organization and has been a driver for reconciliation
efforts in different parts of the world, as well as the catalyst of numerous
public-private partnerships and international initiatives. The Annual Meeting
of the New Champions brings together more than 1,500 participants from 90
countries to share strategies and solutions and discuss global issues and
risks. CM accepted the request and agreed to
participate along with a business delegation.
Accordingly Chief Minister and his 16-member
delegation team left on 7th September 2015 for China and Hong Kong
on a 10-day tour that has been mainly organised to take him to the annual new
champions meeting of WEF at Dalian in China on September 9. A tight schedule
has been drawn for the CM to participate besides in the WEF meet, in many other
programs ranging from industrial interactions to industrial promotion visits to
places like industrial parks, bilateral meetings and visits to places of
tourist attractions as well as participating in business seminars. These are to
be in Dalian, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
On knowing that Chief Minister KCR is leading a delegation to China to
participate in the WEF meeting and also scheduled Telangana Investment
Promotion visits to other major cities in China, requests have come from China
based organizations to include their place also in his schedule. One such is
the request from Mr. Jiande YE, President of China Council of Promotion of
International Trade (CCPIT) Shenzhen Council. In his letter addressed to CM he
said that Shenzhen based companies are increasingly keen to invest in foreign
markets and are looking for opportunities abroad including in India. The
President requested CM and his delegation accompanying him to visit Shenzhen on
14th September 2015 for exchanging ideas on mutually beneficial
cooperation in trade and investment. The Chief Minister agreed to the request
and has scheduled the visit.
On 8th September the second
day of his arrival, Mr. Leo Wang, Chairman of Leo group of companies
met the CM and expressed his company’s willingness to invest in Telangana in
manufacture of heavy duty pumps. Investment of around Rs. 1000 crores is the
possibility as a result of the meeting. CEOs of top 40 companies located in
Liaoning State had a long meeting with CM and his delegation and exchanged
views. Interaction meeting was organized by CCPIT Daliyan. They had discussions on possibility of investments in Telangana. Indian
Ambassador to China Mr. Ashok k Kantha and his team of officials from Indian
embassy have briefed the CM on the China country situation and prospects and
potential of Chinese companies to make investments in India, especially in
Telangana.
On 9th September, the third day of his stay in
Dalian, Chief Minister had a meeting with Professor Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive
Chairman of World Economic Forum (WEF) in the morning at the Annual Meeting of the New
Champions. It was the foremost global business gathering in Asia, which is
known as the “Summer Davos.” They both had
discussions for about 30 minutes. Among others, CM had requested Klaus Schwab
to host WEF annual conference in Hyderabad for which there was a positive
response from him. CM briefed him on various economic and social aspects of
Telangana state, including significance of Hyderabad City in India.
Chief Minister and Schwab exchanged ideas
about promoting economic development. CM explained the Single Window Industrial
Policy of Telangana, the best of its kind in the world and how the new policy
has brought in approximately Rs. 12,000 Crore investments from 56 industrial
companies in less than 3 months. He explained the innovative feature that gives
investors the right to obtain timely clearance and puts the onus on government
officials to clear large projects in less than 15 days. Schwab praised Telangana as a state renowned
for social and economic innovations. He said, “I enjoyed meeting the Chief Minister of a state renowned for social
and economic innovations in India. We look forward to his participation
at our Annual Meeting of New Champions in China.” Responding to Schwab
CM said that “It was wonderful to meet Klaus Schwab and learn about the
tremendous impact that the World Economic Forum has had. I am impressed by him
and his team.”
The Chief
Minister also met Ms. Hilde Schwab, the Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation
for Social Entrepreneurship founded in 1998 to promote entrepreneurial
solutions and social commitment with a clear impact at the grassroots level.
Each year, the Foundation selects a Social Entrepreneur of the Year in India. CM thanked Schwab for her work in promoting
social enterprise and he noted that three of the Indian social entrepreneurs of
the year were from Telangana and that Hyderabad had become a social enterprise
with a variety of organizations and a host of social impact funds.
During the WEF morning
session on urban development challenges, Chief Minister has lucidly explained
his vision on Hyderabad development. He shared his ideas and experiences with
Mayors and vice mayors of very important Chinese cities like Guangzhou, Yuwi
etc. CM has requested to help Telangana in sharing their experience and
expertise on city developments. In the
evening session Chief Minister participated in a discussion on “Emerging
Markets at Cross Roads” at the WEF Meeting. The CM in his brief observation on
the subject said:
“In India states have
a major role to play. Realizing this aspect the Government of India has
devolved more powers and funds to the states. In place of the earlier Planning
Commission an organization called NITI Ayog consisting of all the Chief
Ministers of all the states with Prime Minister as its Chairman has come into
existence. We call this as Team India. With Prime Minister as Chairman and CMs as
members, we all together plan the development of country as a whole and also
the states’ development as well. In a federal structure like the one India
follows, states have a major role to play. For instance our state Telangana the
newest and youngest 29th state of India has laid down an excellent
industrial Policy. We made it a law in the state legislature. We have made it
as a right to the investor to get the clearances within the stipulated time of
two weeks. We have already given clearances to 56 companies in the recent past
to the tune of close to 2 billion US dollars investment. This speaks the mind
set of India today to the whole world. I can certainly say that the market of
India is a huge consuming market and exporting market as well. So we are stable
and definitely we will continue to grow. We have a Prime Minister who is on the
path of reform. He is very firm. He was quite successful as Chief Minister of
Gujarat state”.
“Ups and downs are normally seen and
normally observed. What I believe is that the way china pursued is to be seen
as a best example. 30 years ago it was a different China. Today the world sees
a highly grown up developed China. One should learn from China. What not to be
learnt from china? We can learn everything from China. We strongly believe that
we will grow and the trend is in our favour. We are the biggest oil importer
and oil prices have come down now. We are happy for that and we will certainly
make use of the situation and continue to grow further. This is our advantage”.
“May be economies of other countries are
at the cross roads. I can certainly say that definitely India is not at cross
roads. The Government is on the path of reforms. We are moving with greater
speed. India is saving lot of money on oil import. With that we have a lot of
scope to create more infrastructures for the poor people and India is marching
towards inclusive growth. We give utmost priority for the inclusive growth of
the society and country and we believe in that. Structural changes will take
place when poor remain poor and rich become richer. That will be a cursing
point which is undesirable. We should maintain equilibrium taking care of the
poor and maintaining the dignity of poor”.
“In my state, though it is a new state,
I have started a two bedroom house scheme for the vulnerable and disadvantaged
community. We are spending lot of money on providing drinking water and
creating infrastructure in the city of Hyderabad and laid down very good
industrial policy. I appeal to the world business community that India is a
fairly good place for investment. I welcome all business worlds to come to
India in general and particularly to Hyderabad and Telangana where we have a
huge land bank to allot for industries. The industrial policy like ours is no
where in the world. There are single window policies in the world, but the
single window of Telangana, I can certainly say, is without grills. The
officers who delay in delivering the required permissions and allocations will
be penalised. We made it a right to the investor to get the required
permissions, required allocations and required clearances within the stipulated
time other wise it can be deemed to have been given and the business house can
go ahead. I welcome the business world to come to India, invest in India and
invest in Telangana and let us go together”.
The way CM defended Indian Economy and
its policies, the way he certified China’s development and confirmed its
potential in coming out of its financial setback, the way he projected
Telangana reiterates that KCR is a global person with vision and foresight. His
observations in the WEF meeting signalled the world in general and India in
particular that KCR is not only a regional party leader who championed
statehood movement but also a progressive visionary and statesman with a
foresight of inclusive growth.
On 10th September his fourth day stay Chief Minister had a 40
minutes meeting with Mr. KV Kamath, President and Mr. Xian Zhu Vice President
of New Development Bank Shanghai. The Bank of Shanghai is a very new bank in
the process of formulating funding policies. They focus on infrastructure
development in developing countries. It was a very interesting meeting. CM
sought their help in funding Urban development projects, including waste to
energy, irrigation etc. They positively responded.
The Chairman mentioned that KCR is the First chief minister to have
visited and interacted with NDB since its operationalisation two months ago.
The Chairman clarified that focus of NDB is on Lending to developing countries
and the Focus will be on setting up infrastructure. He further clarified that
NDB, unlike other multilateral agencies will listen to borrowers and will
design its lending portfolio and its terms and conditions accordingly. NDB
typically provides lending for a period of 15-20 years. CM initiating the
discussion informed various infrastructure and welfare schemes Telangana has,
initiated since its formation. He informed that the State has planned to
revive, as its first green initiative, all its irrigation tanks numbering
46,400 in a span of five years and as part of this, about 6500 tanks have
already been taken up in first year. The total estimated expenses will be about
Rs 25000 Crores said CM.
CM further informed that the situation of power deficit, which the
State inherited, was not only solved within 6 months but a detailed action plan
has been put in place to generate an additional 20000 MW and that financial
closure to the tune of Rs 40000 Crores has already been achieved through REC
& PFC. Chairman NDB wanted to know more details of the financial closure
and CM said that CMD GENCO will make a detailed presentation to NDB
shortly.
CM informed that the state has also initiated “Safe drinking water to
all” mission and to this affect, a loan of Rs. 15000 Crores from HUDCO has
already been tied up. Further, the State
has initiated major actions in the areas of Education, Health and other Welfare
Activities and has been a pioneer in most of these schemes.
CM informed that there is an urgent need for Urban renewal and
infrastructure for 5 major cities including Hyderabad. While a number of roads
based infrastructure projects are already tied up with an outlay of about Rs
21000 Crores further assistance is needed for “waste to energy” proposal in
Hyderabad and projects relating to roads, sewerage and drinking water in other
4 Corporations. NDB welcomed these proposals and suggested that DPRs of these
projects may be submitted to take them forward. CM further mentioned that
Warangal is being planned to be the Textile centre of the country and State
plans to set up a fully integrated, state of the art textile park. DPR shall be
submitted to NDB shortly.
Later in the evening Chief Minister
addressed a meeting organized by CII and Government of Telangana to explain the
investment opportunities in the state in which more than 65 Chinese
entrepreneurs and companies participated. It was a huge success. The CM
explained the details of single window industrial policy, the availability of
land bank, hassle free permissions and approvals, zero corruption etc. He
mentioned about chasing cell in CMO to take care of processing applications of
investors and within a stipulated time of 15 days required permissions and
approvals would be given. CM invited them to invest in Telangana. Many
industrialists evinced keen interest and expressed their desire to invest in
Telangana. Earlier in the presence of CM, MoU was signed between Celkon and
Makeno for investment of 20 million US Dollars in Hyderabad to set up LED TV
unit.
Two more Chinese companies in cell phone
components and headphones have come forward to invest in Hyderabad. Shanghai
Electric Corporation Vice President Mr. Shao having a 40 Billion Dollar company
met CM. They have expressed their interest in setting up manufacturing and
supply units of high powered pumps and electrical equipment in Hyderabad. CM
extended an invitation to them and requested their team to visit Telangana.
Before
leaving Shanghai for Beijing, delegation members in the team of Chief Minister
visited Suzhou Industrial Park Located in Suzhou, a city known as "the
paradise on earth". Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) is an important economic
cooperation project between Chinese and Singapore government and covers a total
jurisdiction area of 288 sq km, among which 80 sq km area belongs to
China-Singapore Cooperative Zone. It is a pilot zone of reform and
opening-up and a successful model of international cooperation. It is one of
China's fastest-growing development zones with the most international
competitive edges. It has been ranking the first
for years among China's development zones in using foreign capital.
As China's modernization drive gained
momentum in the late 1980s, many Chinese delegations visited Singapore to learn
modern management methods, while Singapore was also planning Economic
Regionalization focusing on overseas investment. Both governments decided to
join hands in developing a modern industrial park in the east of Suzhou. The
China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (CS-SIP) was thus born on February 26,
1994 when Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing and Singapore Senior Minister Lee
Kuan Yew signed the Agreement on the Joint Development of CS-SIP. The China-Singapore Joint Steering
Council led by Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi and Singapore Deputy Prime Minister
Wong Kan Seng will hold meeting every year to give directions for the
development of SIP.
The
delegation members had an interaction with Mr. Yu Cai Zen, member of China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park
Committee. Mr. Yu briefed about the origin and development of the park and said that
there are about seven Lakhs of employees working in the park. Ministers Sri
Jupalli Krishna Rao and Sri Jagadish Reddy and other members of the delegation
appreciated the development there. They shared with Park Committee members
details of Telangana State Industrial Policy. They also requested Mr. Yu and
his team to extend their cooperation in developing such industrial parks in
Telangana.
On day five
the 11th September Chief Minister along with the delegation
accompanying him participated in the dinner, hosted by Indian Ambassador in
Beijing Mr. Ashok K Kantha in the evening. On arrival for the dinner CM signed
in the Guests’ register at Ambassador’s house. The Ambassador told CM that
several industrialists and Chinese companies are showing interest to invest in
Telangana State after CM’s address in the World Economic Forum in Dalian.
Earlier he
reached China capital from Shanghai after staying two days there. While in
Shanghai, CM had an interaction with Mr. Yogesh Wagh, Director of Anju
Infrastructure, a China based leading company. The CM explained in detail the
Telangana State Industrial Policy to Mr. Yogesh who evinced keen interest and
expressed his preparedness to invest in Telangana State. CM invited him to
visit Telangana for which he responded positively.
On
day six the 12th
September Chief Minister had a
series of bilateral meetings at the Raffles Beijing Hotel in Beijing with
leading Chinese Industrial Companies and prospective investors. They include
Chongqing International Construction Corporation, Inspur Group of Companies, China Fortune Land Development Company, China Railway Corporation and SANY Group. The Chief Minister briefed
the representatives of these companies in detail about the facilities available
in Telangana for them to invest in their respective fields of operation. In
return they have shown keen interest in the state and expressed their
willingness to visit the Telangana State as early as possible for further
discussions.
The Chongqing International Construction
Corporation (CICO) has been represented by Mr. Du Xian Zhang Vice-President and General Manager. Other members
who participated in the meeting are DGM Mr. He Yujun, Executives Ms. Han Yinlu,
Mr. Gou Xueyuan and Vice-GM Mr. Wen Yan. CICO was established in 1985 with a
capital of 120 Million US Dollars. CICO is an infrastructure company in
construction, project consulting, architectural design, mechanical and
electrical installation, materials production, EPC projects etc. It has two
projects in India namely Medical Institute in Bihar and Light Railway Project
in New Delhi. It has branches in several countries including Sudan, Tanzania,
and UK. It encourages PPP mode in infrastructure construction in road building
and power station in India. It plans to cooperate with Indian Company for
engineering contracting project. Discussions between CM and CICO rotated round
their participation in Telangana State.
Chief Minister along with delegation had a
meeting with representatives of Inspur Group led by its Vice-President Mr.
Zhang Dong who is also President and CEO of Inspur India. The other members of
the group are: Mr. Terrence Du, Head of Key Accounts and Inspur India, Mr.
Snighk Soog, Head of Government affair Inspur India. Inspur group intends to
invest in India in the field of electronics and Hardware. It began its
operations in January 2015 in India with opening its branch office in Gurgaon.
Inspur Group is one of the leading companies in the field of total solution and
service provider of cloud computing in China. The server sales volume ranks
number 5 in the world and number 1 in China. It provides IT products and
services for 50 countries and regions in the world. They have shown interest to
start its operations in Telangana also.
Chief Minister and his team had yet another bilateral meeting the same
day in the afternoon with representatives of (CFLDC) China Fortune Land
Development Company. CFLDC is lead by its Vice-President Mr. Liang Wentao and
consisted of Director Planning Mr. Zhang Qitan, Assistant to President Ms. An
Jing and Indian Consultant Mr. Sonny Badiga. CFLDC is interested to develop new
industrial city in India. They shared their experiences with each other and
explored the possibilities of CFLDC investing in Telangana State.
China Fortune Land
Development provides investment, development, and operation services for
industrial cities in China. It is a leading developer of new industrial city,
industrial zone, theme zone, headquarters of industrial zone and standard
workshop area. Its industrial cities comprise scientific and technological
cities, and industrial complexes. The company was founded in 1998 and is based
in Beijing, China. CFLDC asset size exceeds 16.7 billion USD and the overall
sale in the first quarter of 2015 was over 5 lakhs USD. The registered capital
reached 440 million USD. At the end of 2014 its total investment is more than
20 billion USD. It has an employee strength of around 12, 000. Some projects
developed by it in China include, Guan Development Area, Dachang Chaobai river
development area, Jiashan HSR new city, Shen Shu Eco Technological innovation
city and China Fortune Innovation Park. The meeting concentrated basically on
CFLDC participation in developing such industrial cities in Telangana.
Chief Minister’s another
meeting was with representatives of China Railway Corporation. China Railway Corporation (CRC) is the
national railway operator in China and manages all commuter rail and freight
transport. With 5,700 train stations, they support the largest population in
the world. Another meeting was with SANY group. It is a global company in the construction
machinery industry with a vast product range of concrete machinery, excavator,
hoisting machinery, pile driving machinery, road construction machinery, port
machinery, and wind turbine. SANY became the unique company listed among the
world’s top 500 companies in China’s construction machinery industry.
Chief Minister visited the Forbidden City
in Beijing in the afternoon accompanied by the delegation visiting China with
him. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty
to the end of the Qing dynasty. It is located in the centre of Beijing and now
houses the Palace Museum. It served as the home of emperors and their
households as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government
for almost 500 years. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980
buildings and covers 180 acres. The palace complex exemplifies traditional
Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural
developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a
World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection
of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. CM enquired about the city and about
facilities available for the visitors there.
Chief Minister on day
seven, the 13th September reached Shenzhen in the evening along with
the delegation. Before leaving for Shenzhen, CM along with the delegation
members visited places of interest in Beijing. Beijing, China’s massive
capital has history stretching back three thousand years. Yet, it is known as
much for its modern architecture as its ancient sites. The city among others
has the massive Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall of China and many more
interesting places to see.
CM with his team first
visited the Tiananmen
which is a large city square named after the Tiananmen gate separating it from
the Forbidden City. The square contains the monuments to the heroes of the
revolution, the great hall of people, the National Museum of China, and the
Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. Tiananmen Square is within the top five
largest city squares in the world. It has great cultural significance as it was
the site of several important events in Chinese history.
The next visit was to the Great Wall of
China. It is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth,
wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across
the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and
empires against the raids and invasions. It is the largest man-made
monument ever to have been built. The Great Wall has on and off been
rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced. The majority of the existing wall is from
the Ming Dynasty. Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border
controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk
Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and
emigration.
CM and his delegation team spent couple
of hours to go round the two places. CM evinced keen interest to know details
about these two places, their historical and modern importance and also
elicited information about the tourist and other importance of these places.
On day eight the 14th September
Chief Minister along with the delegation members accompanying him had an
exposure visit to Shenzhen High-Tech Industrial Park (SHIP) in Shenzhen.
Earlier CM had been to China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and had a meeting with their
representatives. Both the groups exchanged ideas on international trade. CM
briefed them about the Telangana State Industrial Policy and about
opportunities to invest in Telangana. The (CCPIT) is a trade body of the Chinese Government founded in 1952.
The CCPIT develops business cooperation and exchanges with foreign countries.
It produces economic data, and is involved with diplomacy and with trade
arbitration issues.
In the SHIP CM and his team of delegates
first visited the premises of ZTE Corporation (Mobile
Device Future Concepts) which is a prominent electronic hardware manufacturing
company in the park. ZTE Corporation is a Chinese
multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in
Shenzhen. ZTE operates in three business units - Carrier Networks, Terminals
and Telecommunication. ZTE's core products are wireless, exchange, access,
optical transmission, and data telecommunications gear, mobile phones and
telecommunications software. ZTE is one of the top five largest Smartphone
manufacturers in its home market and in the top ten, worldwide. CM and
representatives of ZTE had discussions on the possibility of establishing
similar units in Telangana.
CM had lot of appreciation for the SHIP
founded in September 1996 and has been listed among China's five state-level
high-tech parks. SHIP covers a total area of 11.5 square kilometres in Nanshan
District. Supported by the municipal government, the industrial park provides
integrated services to enterprises, researchers and investors. It has been
selected by national authorities as the country's Export Base of High-tech
Products, APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) High-tech Industrial Park,
Advanced State-level High-tech Industry Area and National Software Industry
Base.
Authorities concerned briefed the
delegation that the park has attracted many global high-tech giants and
internationally famous enterprises including IBM, Philips, Compaq, Olympus,
Epson, Lucent, Harris and Thomson, as well as the leading domestic players including
Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, TCL, Skyworth, Great wall and Powerise. In the Park, there
have been a group of national grade scientific research institutions which are
leading and have formed a development team consisting of a big group of talents
with doctor’s degree and master’s degree. The management of the park currently
focuses on promoting the development of key industries including computer,
telecommunication, networking, integrated circuit, optical electronics,
biological engineering and new materials.
CM and the members of delegation while
going round the park had interaction with persons associated with various
enterprises in the park and enquired about their functioning. CM also explained
them about the opportunities in Telangana for investors.
After staying for a day in Shenzhen and
after visiting the SHIP CM and delegation members left for Hong Kong. In Hong
Kong CM schedule included industry interactions besides visiting couple of
places of interest. Hong
Kong on the southern coast of China is known for its skyline and deep natural
harbor. It has a highly developed public transportation network covering 90 per
cent of the population, the highest in the world, and relies on mass transit by
road or rail.
On day nine, the 15th September, a day before leaving for
Hyderabad, Chief Minister participated in a seminar
on “Business Opportunities for Hong Kong Companies in the State of Telangana”
at Renaissance Harbor View Hotel in Hong Kong in the forenoon. CM offering his
remarks on the seminar proceedings explained about Telangana State Industrial
Policy, the single window system, hazel free clearances and timely approvals.
Mr. Prashant Agrawal Consul General of India in Hong Kong welcomed the
participants. A five minute documentary on Telangana State was shown to the
participants. Sri Arvindkumar Secretary Industries and Commerce, Government of
Telangana made a presentation on business opportunities in the state of
Telangana and its new industrial policy. There was a question answer and interaction
session as part of seminar. Concluding remarks were given by Mr. Arunachalam,
Chairman Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong. After conclusion of seminar CM
along with Consul General and all participants had lunch together.
After the seminar held in the forenoon, CM along with the
delegation members and Consul General Hong Kong Mr. Prashant Agrawal visited the place of Big Buddha generally known as Tian
Tan Buddha and had been to the Peak where the statue is situated. This is a
large bronze statue completed in 1993, and located at Ngong Ping, Lantau
Island. The statue symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and
nature, people and faith. It is a major centre of Buddhism in Hong Kong, and is
also a popular tourist attraction. The statue is 112 feet tall, weighs over 250
metric tons and was constructed from 202 bronze pieces. In addition to the
exterior components, there is a strong steel framework inside to support the
heavy load. Visitors have to climb 268 steps to reach the Buddha. The Tian Tan
Buddha was constructed beginning in 1990, and was finished on 29 December 1993,
which the Chinese reckon as the day of the Buddha's enlightenment.
After meeting couple of
business delegates as a follow-up of previous day’s seminar on “Business Opportunities”, CM and his delegation left
Hong Kong in the afternoon of 16th September 2015 and reached
Hyderabad the same evening.
The delegation that
accompanied CM for the WEF consisted of Sarvasri K. Keshava Rao MP, K. Swamy Goud Chairman Legislative
Council, K. Madhusudhana Chary Speaker
Legislative Assembly, Jupally Krishna Rao Minister for Industries and Commerce,
Jagadish Reddy Minister for Power, S. Venugopala Chary Special Representative
at Delhi, Koppula Eshwar Chief Whip, Guvvala Balaraj MLA, S. Narsinga Rao
Principal Secretary to CM, Shanthi Kumari Additional Principal Secretary to CM,
Arvind Kumar Secretary Industries and Commerce, Shivadar Reddy IG Intelligence,
Mahesh Murlidhar Bhagwat IG Security, Rajashekhar Reddy Special Secretary to
CM, E.V. Narasimha Reddy MD TSIIC, J. Santosh Kumar CMO and Subash Reddy CMO.
Post Script:
Two weeks after CM participated in the
WEF meeting, its Managing Director and Member of the Managing Board, Philipp
Rosler in a letter to the Chief Minister, on
behalf of the World Economic Forum, thanked him for his active participation
and engagement in the 9th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian. He
said that it was a great pleasure to meet CM and to learn about his vision for reshaping Telangana Industrial Landscape.
He wrote that “as I am sure you could
sense in your various sessions and interactions, the robust discussions and exchanges as well as the exceptional level of
participation illustrate the importance that leaders place on enhancing value through
innovations, advancing scientific research, and fostering greater innovation and entrepreneurship
towards a more sustainable future”. Rosler further mentioned that the Forum
will remain in close contact with CM’s office to ensure that his government can
leverage future opportunities to
collaborate with the World Economic Forum. He expressed the hope to meet the CM
again soon.
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