Singapore government has appointed senior policy strategist, Gopinath Pillai, as its special envoy to Andhra Pradesh to speed up construction of new capital of the state.
Presently, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana share Hyderabad as joint capital.
The appointment was announced by Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during a news conference at the secretariat in capital Hyderabad on Thursday.
"Today the main purpose of my visit, is to announce the appointment of ambassador Gopinath Pillai as the special envoy of the government of Singapore to Andhra Pradesh, to deal with the issues that we talked about. There are many things, many agencies involved in the development of Andhra Pradesh, which is effectively starting out the capital city as green-field project and many other projects," said Shanmugam.
Pillai is currently the chairman of a Singapore based think-tank, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), and an ambassador for city-state's government.
The Singapore government will be presenting the first-phase of draft master plan of the new capital by June.
Naidu said he was happy and content with the working style of Singapore government.
"Singapore government is known for its integrity and also uprightness. Also they will commit less and they will do more, if they commit something that means it is almost all delivered. That is the attitude that they approach," said Naidu.
Shanmugham, who invited journalists from Hyderabad to experience the huge urban development in Singapore, said that to speed up the project Pillai will interact with both the governments and the private sector.
Earlier on Wednesday, Singapore and Rajasthan signed a joint water management agreement in Jaipur.
Shanmugam is on a four-day visit to India to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
