Santosh Patnaik Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam, fondly called the City of Destiny has been spruced up with colourful motifs, banners, colourful painting on the street walls and structures with a major makeover, upgraded lighting arrangements and greenery enhancements by the urban civic body ahead of 31st edition of of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit.

The two-day summit slated to begin on November 12 at the sprawling Andhra University Engineering College Grounds at a make-shift venue is poised to receive over 1250 delegates including business tycoons and foreign country delegations from 58/59 nations. Over 400 Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings will be organised as part of the summit. Business-to-Government (B2G) meetings will also be held to facilitate consultations between industries and governments.

Several global business leaders have confirmed their participation. Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) and the district admission has completely spruced up the city and its landmarks popular among the tourists as the summit assumes utmost importance in positioning Visakhapatnam as a global tourism destination.

As key industrial sessions with soul-searching discussions are expected, the authorities have also tightened security arrangements. CCTV footage has been beefed up with the deployment of forces at key installations. All big hotels and government/private guest houses were blocked since long ago to accommodate the guests and officials. Only those having valid identity cards will be allowed to attend the summit. Multicuisine dishes with focus on authentic South Indian delicacies and mementos with Araku Valley Organic Coffee and Etikoppaka toys are arranged for presentation as mementos to the invitees.

Government representatives from Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, the Slovak Republic, Mauritius, Mozambique, Egypt, Algeria, Tanzania, Guatemala and several other countries will attend.