Gopinath Pillai appointed as Special Envoy to Andhra Pradesh by Singapore government

Singapore government on 26 February 2015 appointed Gopinath Pillai as its special envoy to Andhra Pradesh. Pillai, a senior policy strategist, was appointed to speed up construction of new capital in the state.

Pillai’s appointment as special envoy to Andhra Pradesh was announced by Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the secretariat in capital Hyderabad.

At the time of appointment, Pillai was working as a Chairman of a Singapore based think-tank, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), and an ambassador for city-state's government.

He will render advice on various issues like tourism and bringing in capital from foreign companies for building of the new capital.

Singapore government will present its first-phase of draft master plan of the new capital of Andhra Pradesh in June 2015. Currently Andhra Pradesh and newly created state Telangana shares Hyderabad as joint capital.

Shanmugam is on a four-day visit to India to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.