Franklin Templeton, a global investment management organisation has evinced interest in setting up its operation in Visakhapatnam. CM Chandrababu Naidu met the COO of Franklin Templeton, Jennifer Johnson, and she stated that the organisation is keen on expanding to Andhra Pradesh.
Representatives of the firm had attended the FinTech conference held in Visakhapatnam and were impressed by what they had seen. They enquired about the availability of high end talent in the state. Franklin Templeton had previously expanded to Hyderabad and set up their campus there during Chandrababu Naidu’s tenure & are now looking to expand further in India.
The CM stated that his government is looking to push FinTech in a major way and is working for the improvement of infrastructure and e-governance. He said that his state would emerge as a knowledge hub with efficient and skilled human resources. He also pointed out how the state is filled with able IT professionals.
He assured Franklin Templeton that he would provide all facilities such as land, water and power, suggesting to them that they should set up their campus in Visakhapatnam. The COO stated that they’re looking for a beach-front land and also needed assurance of the availability of high-end talent in the fields of artificial intelligence, data analytics, processing and more in Visakhapatnam.
The CM said that the people of his state are hardworking and the required ecosystem will be developed in the city. She also enquired about the availability of cloud infrastructure, high-speed broadband connectivity and the efficiency of telecom carriers. The CM informed her of the AP State Fibre Grid project and how the state government is determined to provide internet to every household. He also mentioned of Google X soon to team up with the government to provide internet to remote areas too.
Jennifer told the CM, “We are not afraid to be first provided we are sure that things happen. I have confidence that you will make it happen given your track record in Hyderabad. I have trust in your leadership.”
The Andhra Pradesh CM FB page wrote – Honourable CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with Jennifer Johnson, the President & COO of Franklin Templeton, a global investment management organization. She stated that the organization is keen to expand in Andhra Pradesh. Ms. Jennifer also said that representatives from Franklin Templeton had attended the recent Fintech Conference which took place in Visakhapatnam. The conference gave them a lot of confidence to set up a Franklin Templeton centre in Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister assured the representatives of Franklin Templeton that all the required resources like land, water, electricity will be provided to the organization for them to begin with the operations.
