Amaravati, Sep 29 (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh government has constituted a 16-member Consultative Forum in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to address issues relating to industry, trade, and investment and to act as a catalyst for promotion of investment climate, industrial growth, skill and entrepreneurship development and infrastructure development.

To be headed by Minister for Education, Information Technology (IT), Electronics and Real-Time Governance Nara Lokesh, the panel will hold consultations, network and establish linkages between various stakeholders in the government and industry.

The Chief Secretary will be the Vice Chairman of the Consultative Forum, with three representatives from the CII, Andhra Pradesh State Council.

According to the Government Order (GO) issued by the Industries and Commerce Department, the Chairman of CII, AP State Council will be a member convenor of the Forum. The Vice Chairman and Secretary of CII, AP State Council will be the members.

Principal Secretaries of various departments and the Chief Executive Officer of Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) are the members of the panel.

The GO mentions that the establishment of APEDB was a significant step towards creating a favourable investment climate by streamlining processes and offering a single point of contact for investors. It has been actively playing the role of a catalyst for promoting public and private investments to achieve the vision of becoming the most preferred global destination by 2050.

“To fully realise the state’s economic potential and overcome the challenges, the government has decided to enhance its approach by involving the private sector more directly. To this end, it has partnered with the CII to build a consultative forum. This collaboration aims to leverage the expertise and resources of private enterprises, ensuring a more inclusive and dynamic economic environment,” reads the GO.

By fostering public-private partnerships and engaging in continuous dialogue with industry leaders, Andhra Pradesh seeks to address existing gaps and drive sustainable economic growth. Further, it is essential to have more diversification and high adoption of advanced technologies for broader industrial growth, it added.

The government hopes that the partnership with CII will help diversify the industrial base by promoting sectors like renewable energy, IT hardware, biotechnology, and high-precision manufacturing. This will reduce the state’s reliance on a few industries and foster broader economic growth.

During a special plenary session at the fourth CII Southern Regional Council meeting last week, Lokesh pronounced that Andhra Pradesh aspires to be among the top three industrialised states and to make rapid strides in IT, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and MSME sectors.