Visakhapatnam: G-20 capacity building workshop concludes

Visakhapatnam: As part of the Jan Bhagidari initiatives, the Indian G-20 Presidency and Asian Development Bank jointly organised a capacity building workshop for local governments on Friday. The workshop aimed at discussing ways to augment financing in urban infrastructure. It also focused on the capacity prerequisites for local governments to finance urban infrastructure for inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities.

Attended by over 80 participants, including Municipal Commissioners, and representatives from 16 urban state departments Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu, and two Union Territories, the regional capacity building workshop witnessed an encouraging response.

In addition to the Municipal Commissioners, Directors of Urban Development Departments, professors/academicians, students from various institutions and representatives from various think tanks actively participated in the workshop along with international participation from Singapore, South Korea, and Asian Development Bank. The international experts presented best practices being adopted for enhancing infrastructure financing for the cities.

The workshop provided a unique opportunity for the local government representatives to learn from experiences and understand key elements of sustainability and resilience in building cities of tomorrow. The discussions aligned aptly with the flagship priority of the Indian G20 Presidency and will enable cross learning to augment financing at the sub national level. The workshop marks the conclusion of the Jan Bhagidari events organised on the sidelines of the second IWG meeting in Visakhapatnam.