Lokesh lobbies for Swiss investments in pharma in AP
- Seeks support of Indian ambassador in Switzerland in this regard
- Explains the new industrial policy recently announced by CM and many attractive incentives besides favourable atmosphere and skilled workforce
- Indian ambassador in Switzerland promises to extend necessary cooperation in inviting the Swiss firms to set up their units in AP
Vijayawada: Minister for education, IT and electronics Nara Lokesh sought the cooperation of the Indian ambassador in Switzerland, Mrudul Kumar, for setting up pharma companies in Andhra Pradesh.
Lokesh, along with the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, had a meeting with the Swiss ambassador at Hilton Hotel in Zurich. Mentioning that the pharma industry in Switzerland is worth over 100 billion dollars, Lokesh sought the cooperation of the Swiss envoy in setting up units by pharma giants like Novartis, Roche, Lonza and Alcon in Andhra Pradesh.
Over 27,300 Indians are now working for various engineering, IT and pharmaceutical, para-medical companies in Switzerland, Lokesh informed Mrudul Kumar, while observing that the atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh is very favourable for investments, according to a statement from the minister’s office.
According to the statement, Lokesh informed the Swiss ambassador that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu recently announced new industrial policy and several investor-friendly schemes and the state government is extending very attractive incentives to companies in sectors like manufacturing, textile, missionary, hardware and electricals, rail component manufacturing, pharma and manufacturing medical equipment.
Informing the ambassador that the skills and the expertise of women too can be utilised to reduce the cost efficiency and technical skill gap, Lokesh sought the support and cooperation of Swiss for this purpose.
Mrudul Kumar said that over 350 Swiss companies like Nestle, Novartis and STMicroElectronics have set up their units in India providing 1.3 lakh jobs. Similarly, the India-based companies like TCS, Infosys, HCL and Mahindra along with some banking and insurance companies have their units in Switzerland, he said.
The Indian ambassador in Switzerland promised to extend necessary cooperation in inviting the Swiss companies to set up their units in Andhra Pradesh.
Union Minister Kinjerapu Ram Mohan Naidu, industries minister TG Bharath, CEO of Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) Saikanth Sarma and others were present.
