Ambassador leads French business delegation to Andhra Pradesh
H.E. Mr Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India, calls on Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr Nara Chandrababu Naidu and leads a 25-member French business delegation on Smart Cities, Hospitality, Infrastructure and Industry.
Andhra Pradesh, 9 -10 December 2018
The Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr Alexandre Ziegler, was in Andhra Pradesh from 9th to 10th December, leading a 25-member French business delegation on ‘Smart Cities, Hospitality, Infrastructure and Industry’.
On Sunday, 9th December at 6.00 pm, the Ambassador along with H.E. Mr Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, inaugurated the Novotel Hotel, part of AccorHotels Group, in Vijayawada.
On the occasion of the inaugural ceremony, the Ambassador and the Minister addressed a gathering of around 450 participants. Afterwards, the delegation participated in an interactive discussion with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh followed by a networking dinner.
The exchanges continued on 10th December on the topic of Smart city, where the delegation met officials from Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA).
Later on 10th December, the Ambassador inaugurated the Dassault Systèmes excellence center. This Master Center is the result of a MoU signed in early 2018 between Dassault Systèmes and Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), which helps support the students in exploring in the field of aeronautics, defense and automobile.
This was the second visit of this nature organized in two years (the last was in November 2016). It reflects France’s willingness and commitment to step up partnerships with Andhra Pradesh authorities in the development of the new capital city of Amaravati.
The delegation, whose visit was organized by the French Embassy in association with APEDB, included the French Development Agency – AFD and French companies from the urban planning, renewable energy and infrastructure sectors and presented to the government of Andhra Pradesh, the French expertise in these sectors.
The delegation also went to the site visit of the aspiring Amaravati city. Amaravati will become a benchmark illustration of a sustainable, green and high tech Indian city. It offers immense opportunities for innovation, partnerships and development.
The set-up of centralized Project Management System for Amaravati infrastructure projects is also being discussed with APCRDA. The system will track Progress Monitoring, Material Management, Project Management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Contract Standardization.