Naidu Pitches Israel Industrial Park, Dubai Food Cluster in AP

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has proposed the establishment of a dedicated Israel Industrial Park in the State, positioning it as a strategic hub to attract Israeli companies in high-technology and advanced manufacturing sectors. The proposal was made during a series of high-level meetings held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos.

The Chief Minister held discussions with Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat, Trade Commissioner Roey Fisher, and Shir Slutzky, Head of the Israel Economic and Trade Mission to Switzerland. During the interactions, Mr. Naidu outlined Andhra Pradesh’s vision to anchor Israeli firms through a purpose-built industrial park focused on med-tech, aero-defence, clean-tech and advanced manufacturing. He said the initiative would promote local manufacturing, facilitate technology transfer and generate high-skilled employment, while further strengthening India–Israel economic cooperation.

The talks also explored collaboration opportunities in defence and aerospace ecosystems, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, desalination and groundwater quality improvement, semiconductors, quantum technologies, medicine, education and cybersecurity.

As part of the State’s technology-led growth strategy, Naidu met Calista Redmond, Vice-President, Global AI Initiatives at NVIDIA. Discussions focused on fast-tracking plans for India’s first AI University in Amaravati, for which a memorandum of understanding has already been signed. The proposed collaboration includes AI skilling for youth, start-up nurturing and ecosystem development. Possibilities of setting up an NVIDIA Global Capability Centre, hardware manufacturing facilities and collaboration with the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub were also explored.

The Chief Minister also met senior Swiss government officials to deepen trade ties and attract Swiss investments to Andhra Pradesh. In a separate meeting with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Mr. Naidu proposed the establishment of a Dubai Food Cluster in Andhra Pradesh to strengthen food processing, agri-exports and value-chain integration, with discussions covering agritech, foodtech, aquatech and food park development.

News source: The Hindu