WITH 400,000 of its citizens in Saudi Arabia, the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh is one of the most widely represented here. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been the primary driver behind the information technology revolution in Andhra Pradesh. Several different sources stated that until one month before the show, arrangements for GITEX Hyderabad were stalled. Then the chief minister issued instructions that no matter what, the show would go on — and it did. Arab News met Naidu at his residence and accompanied him on an early morning drive to the airport. This is what he had to say about the economy and information technology.
Q: Please comment on the economy in Andhra Pradesh and how your office is working to improve it.
A: Hyderabad is a place that is growing very fast. For the last five years, real estate and land value is consistently rising. We have the maximum growth rate in India. We have so many economic development programs. One of them is information technology, another is tourism, and a third is biotechnology. We are doing many different things to stimulate the economy. We are following economic reforms in other ways for the last six years and we are getting very good results. Starting with population control, building natural resources and also getting all the technologies available from all over the world and best practices for implementing them. At the same time we want to improve the living standards for our people. It is happening in Andhra Pradesh.
Q: How have you managed to convince the population to participate in e-government?
A: It is the only way. We want to give a very transparent administration. We want to reduce the corruption and delays. We are bringing e-governance because it is the only answer. Because of e-governance we can realistically say that we can bring transparency, accountability, speediness, and so many advantages. I want to concentrate this year on creating an e-mail address for every household. At the same time, to every government office and every private individual, I want to promote the use of e-mail. This is important because all services will be on the Internet. Infrastructure will be established in every village. If you build infrastructure then all other things will come automatically.
Q: Are these services accessible to the Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia?
A: Yes, of course they can use the services. This is a big advantage for them. They can not only do certificates and other services but they can also make electronic payments from Saudi Arabia.
Q: Would you like to be involved in the creation of the e-government infrastructure in Saudi Arabia?
A: Here what we have done is that in all e-government applications we have worked with the private sector. We are keeping them as joint ventures. We wanted to use these applications with other governments and other developing countries also. So we would be very interested in offering Saudi Arabia our experience and technologies. I would be pleased to come to the Kingdom and meet with their decisionmakers for this.
Q: What do you think of the GITEX Hyderabad show?
A: I think it was a good start. Because of the elections I could not participate and that was unfortunate, but next year will be different. We have been working very well with the Dubai Government. We have an excellent partnership with them and will be working with them to promote more things. I hope next year the show will be bigger and we will work harder for that. In the future I will be participating not only in GITEX here, but we will be having more road shows around the world to attract more investment in information technology. We have a strong human resources base and every year we are producing 50,000 engineering graduates. IT-enabled services are very cost effective and we can implement them in a very cost-effective manner not only here but in developed and developing countries as well.
Q: What is being done to improve the situation for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh?
A: Muslims are generally disadvantaged people here in India and in many other nations as well. Here they are lagging behind in education and also participation in economic activities. Most are very poor people. So we have introduced so many programs for them. We have started many new schools for them. Now I am concentrating on how to eradicate poverty among Muslims. For that I want to create self-employment and incorporate the latest technologies and marketing strategies in that effort. I think this is the best way to help them help themselves.
Q: What about improving the lot of women as well?
A: We have women’s groups that are highly motivated and I believe the best strategy is to work through them to create employment with the goal of developing small enterprises. From there we are going to have a networking of marketing so that from their homes through e-commerce, they will be able to sell anywhere in the world. That is the approach that we are taking. It is very effective. We are enabling them to be small businesswomen. Of course we will be offering them micro-financing, technology and training in areas like management, leadership qualities, marketing skills and all the needed competencies.