Minister for Industries, Commerce, IT and Skill Development Mekapati Goutham Reddy on Sunday hailed the Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu (APNRT) Society in the UAE for doing a good job of uniting the Telugu diaspora worldwide and providing them a platform to engage with Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking at a Telugu Diaspora Dinner organised on the sidelines of Dubai Expo 2020, organised with the help of APNRT Association in Dubai and across the Emirates, the Minister said the NRT Society had been assisting the Telugu diaspora in investment guidance, emergency assistance, orientation for migrants and educating them on the AP Policy NRI Cell.
“Ever since the YSR Congress Party came to power in the State almost three years ago, it has remained focused on ensuring a comprehensive governance and development model, built on the nine assurances called Navaratnalu,” Mr. Goutham Reddy claimed.
Speaking about the challenges of managing three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister said that many Telugu migrants who had lost their jobs while working abroad returned the State in droves, creating a dire need for the government to provide them a safety net.
He said the government’s model of development was based primarily on four pillars — investing in the future, transforming governance, driving economic growth and environmental and social governance.
The Minister said budget allocation had been increased to key sectors like education, health, social welfare and agriculture. Besides, reforms were introduced to improve productivity, bring value addition and innovation in the agriculture sector, double manufacturing, build emergency technology hubs and support startups, enhance trade through strong infrastructure-ports, airports and industrial corridors, build a pool of skilled workforce and facilitate low cost of doing business.
He also spoke at length about the APNRT’s role in development of the State.
Adviser to the Chief Minister and Special Representative to the Middle East and Far East Zulfi Ravdjee, AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation chairman M. Govinda Reddy, Kurnool MLA Abdul Hafeez Khan, Special Chief Secretary, Industries and Infrastructure Department Karikal Valaven, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APIIC J.V.N. Subrahmanyam, and members of AP NRT Association in the UAE were present.
