Vijayawada: The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, was keen to leverage UAE’s expertise, speaking about the strategic location of AP in India with the Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, the UAE minister of economy, on Sunday, for his Dubai tour.

According to a press release from the government’s communication advisor’s office, they discussed the growing road network and waterways, that will complement the thousand kilometer coastline.

Mr Naidu said that the people of AP are strong in the IT field and are enterprising, with human resources, one of the biggest strengths of the state. The two ministers agreed to work in the areas of IT, Block Chain and Fintech. A joint working group will be elected, and APEDB will be the point of contact.

Navdeep Suri, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, who will coordinate the way forward, was also present at the meeting. The minister said that they were very impressed with the progress of Andhra Pradesh, and the state’s initiatives in the domain of logistics.

Mr Naidu said that the state wants to further their relationship and make AP an integrated logistics hub for the Emirates.

Vizag, Amaravati and Tirupati will soon be connected to Dubai, and he proposed the setting up of MRO facilities in AP. He assured that the state government will coordinate and extend the facilities fully.

Another task force will be created, with representatives of airlines, airports and ports, for follow up logistics related projects, suggested Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of FlyDubai.

The team from Emirates showed interest in four proposals:

The development of an airport; the connection to three cities; making AP a hub for Emirates and the establishment of an aviation academy in AP.