Yokohama offers to make Kakinada smart city: Andhra Pradesh government

HYDERABAD: Japan's Yokohama City Council has come forward to collaborate with Andhra Pradesh to develop Kakinada district headquarters into a smart city, AP state government officials announced here today.

In November 2014, an AP delegation had visited Japan and Yokohama port, a state government release said.

In a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here today, Yokohama port president Masayuki Takashima and other delegates gave a presentation on Yokohama City development, the release said.

Yokohama happens to be Japan's second largest city in terms of population.

Yokohama City Council officials said they will visit Kakinada soon and identify areas of collaboration with the AP government, the release said.

"Currently, there's a four-lane road between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada. Soon, we plan a beach road covering three states and one Union Territory," Naidu was quoted as saying, adding that it also has two ports.

The AP Chief Minister sought their expertise in city revamping, waste management, tourism, enhancing infrastructure and civic amenities as well as reducing pollution, it said.

"Given that Japan is strong in electronic hardware, you could also lend your expertise by helping us with our electronics hardware park in Kakinada," he said in the release.