Andhra IT Minister meets corporate leaders, academicians in Australia

Amaravati, Oct 20 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh said that he met a number of corporate leaders and academicians in Australia on Monday as part of promoting the state for partnerships and investments.

The IT Minister is on a seven-day tour of Australia under the 'Special Visitors Program'.

"I visited the University of New South Wales (UNSW) today in Sydney as part of my Australia tour. I engaged with senior executives and researchers on advanced teaching, renewable energy, and AI innovation," Lokesh said in a post on X.

He said that he invited UNSW to collaborate with Andhra Pradesh universities on joint degree and student exchange programmes, focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), AI and renewable energy.

"We have also discussed partnering on telemedicine, public health, and maternal care research as well as advancing smart cities, sustainable urban development, and data-driven governance in Andhra Pradesh," he said.

According to Lokesh, UNSW's remarkable legacy in solar innovation, quantum computing, and global sustainability makes it a natural partner in Andhra's mission to build a knowledge-driven and technology-forward state.

Further, he chaired a roundtable hosted by the Australia--India CEO Forum in Sydney.

Lokesh said that he met top Australian business leaders, led by HSBC chief executive Anthony Shaw. He met executives from Amazon, Cisco, EY, Grain Corp, HCL Tech, KPMG, Mastercard and others during the roundtable.

"Shared how Andhra Pradesh attracted USD120 bn in investments within 16 months through visionary policies and seamless facilitation," he said, and added that he was pleased with Google representative Alex's strong vote of confidence in the southern state.

Moreover, Lokesh said he was looking forward to seeing them at the CII Partnership Summit scheduled in November. PTI STH ADB