Telangana signs MoU with Germany’s Thuringia for tech, skills, startups

Hyderabad: Telangana and Germany’s Thuringia state on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual cooperation in technology, skill training, startups and life sciences. Also, the state and the South Africa govt decided to cooperate in the skilled workforce and medical tourism sectors.Chief minister A Revanth Reddy along with IT and industries minister D Sridhar Babu and officials met two delegations, one, led by Mario Voigt, minister-president of Thuringia, and the other by South Africa deputy president Paul Mashatile.Revanth held key bilateral meetings with the two delegations. With Telangana making rapid strides in IT, life sciences and advanced manufacturing, Thuringia signed an MoU with Telangana for cooperation in areas like technology, skill training, startups and life sciences.The agreement was signed during a high-level delegation meeting led by Mario Voigt with Revanth Reddy.The CMO stated that the minister-president said they would like to partner with Telangana and create a win-win situation for both sides. Revanth sought the support of Thuringia leadership in reshaping the skilling curriculum under the Young India Skills University (YISU), Advanced Technology Centres (ATCs), and polytechnic institutes.Responding to this, Mario Voigt said a need-based, tailor-made skilling curriculum could be created for Telangana, in collaboration with Thuringia’s industry and academia.“We are ready to partner with Thuringia and look forward to furthering collaboration in skills and investment opportunities,” the CM said.Minister-president Mario Voigt said an official visit of representatives of German semiconductor companies to Telangana could be planned for assessing opportunities and exploring matchmaking on both sides. “We are more than willing to host industrial groups and cater to the business needs of Telangana.”In the meeting with a delegation from South Africa, led by deputy president Paul Mashatile, both sides agreed to cooperate in the fields of education, medical tourism and investments, with the aim of strengthening educational exchanges, promoting medical tourism and attracting investments for mutual benefit.Paul Mashatile said South Africa and India share a long history of experiences and cultural ties. South Africa provides a platform from which Indian companies could enjoy preferential market access into Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area, he stated, adding that it paves the way for establishing pharmaceutical companies in his country.