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NYSE to help Andhra set up financial district in Hyderabad

Suman Guha Mozumder in New York

The New York Stock Exchange will help Andhra Pradesh government in setting up a financial district in Hyderabad by providing technical and other assistance, officials accompanying visiting AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said in New York on Thursday.

Naidu, who is in the US to seek investment for an innovative economic zone, a 9,000-acre, duty-free commercial enclave near the port city of Visakhapatnam as well as to participate in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum that opened on Thursday, visited the NYSE to have a discussion with NYSE chairman Dick Grasso and other senior officials of the bourse.

"The idea was to have a first-hand knowledge of the working of the exchange, to see how it works and what we can learn from them to replicate the model for India," B P Acharya, state secretary, industries and commerce department, told rediff.com.

"We are trying to develop a financial district in Hyderabad and in that connection the chief minister requested them for technical collaboration and guidance to which the chairman readily agreed," Acharya added.

Among those, who accompanied Naidu during his brief visit, include AP Minister for Finance Y Ramakrishnudu, AP Minister for Industries K Vidyadhar Rao, and Satyam Computer Services Chairman B Ramalinga Raju.

On the first day of his six-day visit to the US, Naidu also addressed a large gathering of US business representatives at a session on "Second Wave of Economic Reforms in India: the Outlook for 2002" that was organised by the Asia Society and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

At the luncheon meeting that was attended among others by Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, who delivered the keynote address, former US Ambassador to India Frank Wisner (who is now chairman of US-India Business Council), Tarun Das, director general of CII, and CII president Sanjiv Goenka, Chandrababu Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh was looking towards becoming a 'knowledge State' with Hyderabad as the 'knowledge hub'.

During his visit, Naidu is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding for biotechnology collaboration with the North Carolina State agencies. He is also scheduled to have meetings with top executives of some major US firms.

"The focus of the chief minister's visit this time is biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, financial and insurance institutions. We are developing the first state of the art biotech park in Hyderabad in Zenom Valley," Acharya said.

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