The Council of EU Chambers of Commerce in India (EU Chambers) participated at the AP Global Investors Summit 2023 as one of the International Partners. The Summit was organized by the Government of Andhra Pradesh from 3rd to 4th March 2023, in the city of Destiny, Visakhapatnam. The Summit witnessed an active participation of Companies not only from India but also from all over the world.

The theme of the two-day Summit was “Advantage Andhra Pradesh – Where Abundance meets Prosperity”. EU Chambers encouraged foreign investors to participate at the Summit and promoted the State of Andhra Pradesh as a state of strong vision and potential.

As an international partner, EU Chambers mobilized a Business Delegation from various European countries viz. UK, Poland, Finland, France and Denmark belonging to different sectors like Electronics, Engineering, Fashion and Luxury, Humanitarian, Legal, Sustainability, Shipping & Logistics, Technology, Textile, Waste water Management and Women Empowerment etc. The Business Delegation consists of 8 members as below from various member’ state of EU Nations:

  1. Renu Shome, Director, The Council of EU Chambers of Commerce in India (Delegation Leader)
  2. Dean Docherty, Partnerships Manager – India, UNICEF, UK.
  3. Ada Dyndo, President, Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (WICCI) India-EU Business Council & Principal Consultant, European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC), Poland.
  4. Raita Mocherla, VP- Projects, Pangaea Tradeteam, Finland
  5. Judyta Latyomowicz, Co-founder & Partner, Legally.Smart, Poland
  6. Michal Lizewski, Co-founder & Partner, Legally.Smart, Poland
  7. Mangharam Harwani, CEO, VNN International ApS, Denmark
  8. Parthasarthy Gopalan, Area General Manager- South & East of India, CMA CGM Agencies (India) Pvt. Ltd., France

The delegates were from the companies who have business interest in India and are looking for appropriate opportunities. Their intention to visit Andhra Pradesh was to explore the opportunities in their sectors in the State and to know more about the offering and incentives the State can offer to their respective companies.

The delegates on their two day visit to the Summit were able to conclude fruitful meetings with the attendees of the Global Investors Summit. The Summit was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri. Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. At the inaugural day of the Global Investors Summit the delegates attended the Inauguration followed by various thematic sessions. The delegates found the thematic sessions quite interesting, informative and provided the opportunity of good networking.

The delegates concluded individual meetings at the Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit. They also had meetings with relevant companies at the EU Chambers Stall.

The delegates had a closed-door meeting with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The Chief Minister welcomed the delegate with warmth, he was very enthusiastic. The delegation was headed by Dr. Renu Shome, Director, EU Chambers. She briefed the Hon’ble Chief Minister about the activities of EU Chambers and said that the EU Chambers aims is to promote business between EU and India and the Chamber sees Andhra Pradesh as a potential State and will encourage companies to invest and have business activities in the State. She further mentioned that the state has transformed substantially under the Hon’ble Chief Minister’s leadership.

Delegates had an opportunity to introduce themselves and their company. Each delegate put forth their ideas which were duly heard and answered by the Hon’ble Chief Minister. The discussion at the meeting included issues such as start-up, to undertake new project for smart city, do better in the logistics sector and offer incentives as Visag is one of the important port of India, . The Chief Minister encouraged, welcomed the delegates to invest and expand in AP, and ensured his full support for the same. He mentioned that there is a lot of ease in doing business in AP, the government is very proactive and offers good incentives. He also mentioned that Vizag is one of the 13 major ports in India and the only major port in Andhra Pradesh. There is a lot that the state of AP has to offer to investors, right from attractive incentives to hassle free documentation. The tourism sector has potential opportunities for investment in AP. He showed interest in making AP a state with maximum smart city. He also talked about how the state is also focused on the education sector where skill development is one of the major sector and objective of the state.

The delegates were of the opinion that the summit was very impressive which offered a lot of interesting information about the state of Andhra Pradesh and doing business there as well as great opportunities for networking with the local government and business community. The meeting arranged for the delegates with the Honourable Chief Minister was the absolute highlight of the visit of each delegates to the summit and all the delegates are very grateful for such a unique and valuable opportunity.

One of the delegate met a company from renewable energy and is willing to connect it with companies who are interested to have Joint-Ventures or partnership with this company.

The Global trade show and sector specific knowledge sessions at the Summit proved to be beneficial to all the delegates as they were able to meet Companies from various sectors. The delegates were positive and hope for future collaborations with those companies. The EU Chambers also had several meetings with SMEs and start-ups from Andhra Pradesh who are willing to expand or are looking for some hand-holding. They were many companies which were keen to associate with the Chamber to explore business opportunities. The EU Chambers also signed an MoU with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, India

The EU Chambers stall had good footfalls of around 400 visitors during two days of Summit held from 3rd to 4th March, 2023. Our participation at the AP Global Investors Summit was quite fruitful and hope to work with the AP Government in close coordination to attract companies be the part of development of Andhra Pradesh.