Vijayawada, July 10 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh will sign a MoU with Kazakhstan's capital Astana to work together on building new state capital Amaravati, an official statement said on Sunday.
This was decided when Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently on a visit to Kazakhstan, met Astana Mayor Asset Issekeshev.
The MoU will be signed in a few months, said a statement from the chief minister's office here.
It was decided to set up a joint working group with members from both the sides.
Andhra Pradesh's working group will be headed by Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P. Narayana. The working group will have four more members.
Both the groups will work closely and share their experiences to build a world-class capital.
The mayor showed keen interest to share their experiences in building Astana as the new capital. Astana became a new capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, replacing Almaty.
"We will share where we did well and where we went wrong so that you can learn from our experience and avoid mistakes and improve your performance," said Issekeshev.
Naidu told him that Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited Astana suggested to him that he take a cue from this futurist city of symbols.
"I am very impressed seeing how Astana is built. I have seen almost the entire city and found it very beautiful," the chief minister said, asking the mayor to share details of their architects, designers, and builders involved in the construction of Astana.
Issekeshev informed him that more than 150 architects have worked for 10 years on the project.
Stating that this relationship will be beneficial to both, the mayor said that Kazakhstan has a lot of opportunities for business people from Andhra Pradesh.
To increase the tourist traffic between Kazakhstan and the south Indian state, the mayor promised to speak to their transport minister to introduce a direct flight from Amaravati.
Earlier, the delegation led by Naidu met Kazakhstan Defence Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov in Almaty. They discussed the difficulties faced in building the new capital city.
The defence minister recalled that they had to float a global tender and pool investments from government, foreign companies, and private companies as well for formulating a city design.
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