Clinton to Address Cream of Ind Industry in Hyd

United States President Bill Clinton will address the cream of Indian industry, including the who's who of the information technology (IT) sector, at a meeting here on March 24.

Clinton will address the gathering, organized by the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), for 20 minutes.

Shobana Kamineni, chairperson of CII Andhra Pradesh, told India Abroad News Service that Clinton's tour of Hi-Tech City in Madhapur has been tentatively fixed for two hours. It will begin with a half-hour visit to some stalls put up by major industries, especially the IT sector, in a makeshift air-conditioned hall that can accommodate about 1,200 people.

Those participating in the exhibition in order to brief Clinton on the IT developments in the state will include Satyam Infoway of Ramalinga Raju, Infosys Technologies of N.R. Narayana Murthy, and GE, apart from a stall by the Andhra Pradesh state government, she said.

The tentative itinerary includes a three-minute welcome address by Rahul Bajaj, national president of CII, and a 10-minute presentation by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on major developmental works undertaken by the state government and investment opportunities in the state.

After Naidu's presentation, Clinton will address the gathering which will include Naidu's cabinet colleagues, other legislators and important CII members such as Jamshed Godrej. The 20-minute address will be followed by a vote of thanks by Sanjay Bhatnagar of Enron.

CII officials are, however, not sure of the number of industrialists who will be allowed to attend the conference. But, what they are sure of is the benefits that will accrue to the state from his visit.

Kamineni told India Abroad News Service that since a business delegation will be accompanying Clinton, many partnerships may come through. She said since the visit to the Hi-Tech City is restricted to only two hours, most of the focus will be on Clinton and agreements may not be signed right then. It will only open up a lot of avenues, she added.

Meanwhile, officials have confirmed that Clinton, during his five-hour whistlestop tour here (he is likely to land here at 10.30 a.m. and leave at 3.30 p.m.) will visit a local hospital before attending the CII meet.

Clinton will pay a visit to the Mahavir Hospital, which is said to have achieved success in the "direct observed treatment short course" therapy of tuberculosis (TB), with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Clinton will meet with patients who have recovered from TB and deliver a message on the occasion of World TB Day.

But Clinton's final itinerary will be revealed only after two days. M.V.S. Prasad, political secretary, told India Abroad News Service that a White House delegation had only discussed the logistics of the visit with senior government officials. The itinerary is fixed by the Ministry of External Affairs and the U.S. delegation. The state government does not have much say in it, Prasad added.

Bernard Alter, U.S. Consul General in Chennai, and Nicholas Friendly, a senior member of the White House delegation, had called on Naidu on Friday to discuss broad details of the visit before meeting chief secretary V. Anand Rau.