Andhra Pradesh team hold talks with Dubai Internet City (DIC) officials to enhance bilateral co-operation

The fact-finding mission was comprised of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Y S Rajshekhar Reddy's special emissary and son-in-law, Mr. M Anil Kumar, and Mr.Zaki Qureshey, Founder and CEO of Hyderabad-based E2Labs Information Security.

The DIC CEO, Dr. Omar bin Suleiman, and other officials briefed the visitors about the vision and growth of DIC and ways underway to explore new avenues of growth and expansion, especially with ICT clusters like Hyderabad, dubbed as next Silicon Valley of India.

Both sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation and assistance in different domains, especially IT and tourism. Andhra Pradesh's capital city, Hyderabad, is considered one of Asia's fastest growing IT hubs and is already home to several multinationals, including Microsoft's R & D Centre - the only one outside the US headquarters.

Andhra Pradesh and Dubai have been enjoying strong and growing relations over the years, but the new government headed by Dr. Reddy is keen on taking the relations to a new height in the coming months.

Emirates became the first foreign airline to operate direct flights to Hyderabad nearly two years ago. Dubai is home to one of the largest number of Andhra expatriates in the Middle East.