European Union Ambassadors call on Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam

CHENNAI: A host of issues including tapping of skilled work force, mutual cooperation in engineering and agro-processing were discussed between Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and European Union delegation which called on him at the Secretariat here today.

European Union Ambassador Joan Cravinho along with a host of ambassadors from member countries of EU are on a three-day visit to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

During his brief interaction with the delegation, Panneerselvam said the government seeks to further enhance the skill level and productivity of work force and Europe offers some very good models in skill development.

"The immense potential for cooperation with EU, both in traditional areas like engineering and agro-processing and in emerging areas like information technology, biotechnology and renewable energy were discussed," an official release said.

Claiming that Tamil Nadu was one of the top three industrialised states in India, Panneerselvam said, "Tamil Nadu's strength is the excellent social infrastructure and that in all of India, Tamil Nadu perhaps comes close to the European model of a welfare state."

The main reason for the visit to Tamil Nadu was to understand the tremendous diversity of India and in particular since Tamil Nadu is an important state both in terms of size of population and economy, Cravinho said.

"The discussions centred on the kind of Central government support available for Tamil Nadu Vision 2023, status of implementation of Goods and Service Tax, major challenges facing Tamil Nadu," it said.

Cravinho said the European Investment Bank was authorised to work in India and would be interested to lend for green infrastructure projects including renewable energy and smart grids.

Panneerselvam requested the delegation to attend the Global Investors Meet scheduled to be held next year, the release said.