Minister KTR met the hon’ble Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe and thanked him for inviting him to the Human Capital Summit.

The hon’ble Prime Minister pointed out that Hyderabad has become the technology hub.

Minister KTR apprised him of the progress Telangana has made since it came into being and various policy initiatives to enable ease of doing business. The strengths of the state in terms of IT and technology hub, pharma, aerospace and defense and textiles were highlighted by the Minister.

The hon’ble PM appreciated the efforts made by the Telangana State in such a short span. He pointed out that as a part of India -Sri Lanka joint cooperation to make South Asia as a regional force to be reckoned with and as a part of of the balance of power shifting to this part of the world, there exists a huge potential for collaboration between Sri Lanka and among the 5 southern states of India including Telangana. The PM highlighted that Sri Lanka wants to create 1 million jobs in next 5 years, revive rural economy and will expand middle class. It will open up its economy to attract FDI and it is the effort to make SL as a logistic and business Hub.

Minister KTR suggested that as a part of this joint economic cooperation, Telangana can play a major role in IT sector and that a team of top IT companies from Telangana will visit Colombo in near future. Similarly, Telangana plans to start the textile park and companies from Sri Lanka (especially in garments and apparels) can play a major role in the park by becoming anchor units.

Minister KTR requested the PM to start a direct flight between Colombo and Hyderabad. The PM assured that it will be considered favorably in view of the large tourist inflows to Colombo from Hyderebad and from the region.

The PM appreciated T-Hub and commented that this is a perfect example of the education-employment continuum, a model Sri Lanka wants to have.

Minister KTR invited the hon’ble PM to visit Hyderabad. The PM has assured to consider it favorably during his forthcoming visit to India in October 2016.