Sri Gudivada Amarnath garu, Minister of Industries, Infrastructure, Investment & Commerce and Information Technology, Government of Andhra Pradesh met with members of the Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other trade bodies at a meeting organised by VCCI on Friday 16th July 2022 in Visakhapatnam. The meeting was conducted by VCCI President Sri R.Satish, Secretary Sri.Ronald Williams and coordinated by Sri. G Pawan Kumar introduced the credentials of the Honourable Minister to the gathering and said that the meeting was organised with the sole intention of bringing the issues faced by various trade bodies to the notice of the Minister and seek his guidance, help and intervention in those areas.
The Minister was briefed about the 90 years history of VCCI by President R Satish who in his address to the gathering requested support from the Honourable Minister in a few areas like Ease of doing business in real practice, release incentives to the MSME and IT sectors, recommend lowering of Electricity, grant Industry status to the logistic sector, recommend to the aviation ministry for better connectivity to Vijayawada and Bhubaneswar and increase incentives for tourism promotion in our state which has many tourist spots which have not been promoted so far.
The Minister was also requested for a piece of land to set up a skill development centre to be maintained by VCCI. The Honourable Minister Sri Amarnath garu in his address to the gathering said who took great pride in having his roots in Vizag and said that this was an opportunity for him to take back the feedback from the the business community gathered at the meeting. He reiterated the intention of the Honourable Chief Minister sri Jagan Mohan Reddy to make Vizag as the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh. Vizag, he said was the most preferred destination for overseas investors. The Vizag port was a major gateway for trade . He hoped that the policies and infrastructure provided by the Chief Minister would tempt Telugu industrialists all over the world to come back to their roots and set up industries
500 crores would be released as incentives to MSME’s and IT sectors very soon with more to come. MSME park in Anakapalli would be inaugurated next month and plans to have one in Vizag too. He acknowledged the work that local businessmen have made to make Vizag the preferred destination that it has become. He applauded the rich history of VCCI and promised his help in any matter to help business.
He also assured the gathering that the Chief minister was making plans to set many initiatives for development in addition to social measures. An investor meet was being planned in Vizag in the next few months.
Minister Amarnath promised to take all the issues faced by local business to the Govermment and chief minister.
Sri Ravi Godey, founder Editor of Entrepreneur , the in-house magazine of VCCI shared how the magazine had morphed from just a news capsule of VCCI activities was now a full fledged magazine that covered VCCI activities and included national and international topics of interest to the business community. After his address, the Minister released the latest issue of Entrepreneur. Magazine editor, Ms Divya Abhilash, Chairperson of the Youth Wing of VCCI and Mr Sudarshan Swamy, Treasurer VCCI were also present.
The Minister then gave a patient hearing to representatives of CREDAI, ITAAP, Vizag Cloth Merchants Association, Shipping Industry, Vizag Plywood association, the Women’s Wing VCCI and the Youth Wing VCCI who shared their concerns and requested the Minister to help on various issues for their respective trade bodies. This was followed by a Q & A session .
VCCI President Mr Satish handed over a memento on behalf of VCCI to Sri Amarnath garu as a token of their appreciation. VCCI Secretary Sri William's proposed the vote of thanks.
