Ahmedabad: A day after Gujarat government inked pacts with China, Chief Minister Anandi Patel on Thursday held a high-level meeting with the Chinese delegation to prepare an action plan to materialise the two marquee agreements.
The two countries signed the MoUs yesterday shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping commenced his three-day visit to the country from the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The three pacts include making Guangzhou city in China and Ahmedabad as sister cities, setting up of industrial parks in this state and an agreement between Guangdong province and the Gujarat government for development of cultural and social ties between the two provinces.
In the meeting today, the Chinese delegation was led by Executive Vice-Governor of Gunagdong Xu Shaohua and Mayor of Guangzhou city Chen Jianhua, while Patel was accompanied by several top bureaucrats of different departments, including the state chief secretary Varesh Sinha.
"While discussing the road map of these MoUs during the meeting, Patel stressed on the need to prepare a blue print of the action plan for result-oriented implementation of these agreements. She also called for collective efforts of officials from both Chinese and Gujarat governments," according to a release by the state government.
For better co-ordination and effective implementation of MoUs, Patel asked her officials to set up a special cell in the office of the chief minister.
"She (Patel) also provided the guidance about designating the work to all the concerned departments to take care of all the avenues included in the agreements and hoped that these two agreements will strengthen the ancient ties between India and China," the release said.
A total of three agreements were signed yesterday within hours of the arrival of the Chinese President.
Besides the pacts with Guangdong province and Guangzhou city, another agreement is aimed at developing industrial parks in Gujarat and was signed between China Development Bank (CDB) and Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb) of the state government.
"Patel also listed out a number of similarities between Gujarat and Ahmedabad on one hand and Guandong and Guangzhou on the other," the release said.
"Both Guangdong and Gujarat have the coast line and
both the states are leaders in economic growth parameters. Just like river Pearl passes through Guangzhou city, Sabarmati river passes through Ahmedabad city," Patel is quoted as saying in the release.
The chief minister also requested both Shaohua and Jianhua to take part in the forthcoming 'Pravasi Bhartiya Divas' as well as in the 'Vibrant Gujarat' summit next year.
In return, the Chinese delegates invited the representatives of Gujarat's trade and industry to take part in the import-export fair to be held in China in October, the release said.
"The Chinese delegation also indicated a possibility of direct flight service between Guangdong and Ahmedabad in the near future," the release added.
