Greater co-operation among BRICS Cities needed: Fadnavis

 

 Mumbai April 16, 2016: Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis today said BRICS Cities Conclave will ensure greater co-operation between cities and people of the emerging countries bloc.

“BRICS will change the city to city and people to people cooperation,” Shri Fadnavis said at the valedictory function of the two-day BRICS Cities Conclave here. He said Maharashtra Government was inspired from St Petersburg to make the Mithi River clean and navigable. He stressed on the need for inclusive development where the under- privileged had a lot to contribute towards development by citizens involvement.

The Chief Minister termed the conclave hosted by Mumbai First, a city based think tank, in association with the Maharashtra Government and the Central Government, huge success and said, “After the deliberations it is the time to act now.”

After India took the presidency of the BRICS countries since February 2016 for one full year, BRICS Cities Conclave is the first major activity by India providing a platform for the participating nations to exchange knowledge and information on urban development. 

Shishir Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, Mumbai First summarized the deliberations of all the nations. During the occasion he also announced that the proceeds from the book ‘The Making of Vibrant Cities’ that was launched on the inauguration day of the conclave will be donated towards the drought relief fund of Maharashtra. 

Narinder Nayar said that conferences like this would help in capacity building of the cities. The two day session included deliberations on various topics related to growth of cities in the BRICS nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. More than 75 delegates representing different BRICS countries exchanged their experiences, plans and programs on topics related to Urban governance, safety of cities, infrastructure development, urban planning and many other related topics. The conclave also included cultural performances of all the nations where each country presented their unique culture in an impressive manner. 

About Mumbai First:

The concept of Mumbai First drew inspiration from emergence of London First which assumed the role of facilitating the repositioning of London through various initiatives.  Like the big business houses in London came together to form London First, major industries and private sector in Mumbai, with the initiative of Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, came together to create Mumbai First.  Mumbai First was formed largely as a think tank for the city and also to assume a more specific role as a catalyst to foster partnership with various stakeholders.  Some of our highly eminent promoters and patron members are Tatas, Godrej, Mahindras, Hindustan Lever, Asian Paints, SBI, ICICI, HDFC among others.

Bombay First, now branded as Mumbai First, was established in 1995 with the vision of improving the quality of life in Mumbai and making it globally competitive, world class city. Mumbai First’s journey with Mumbai Transformation began nearly 10 years ago, when with the agreement of then Chief Minister, we together with McKinsey carried out a study titled as the ‘Vision Mumbai’.  This study proposed a comprehensive program for next 10 years of the transformation of the Mega City.  It showed how Mumbai could be transformed into world class city.   The Urban Development Ministry of Government of India described us as a ‘Best Practice’ for Public Private Partnership.

Bombay First is working closely and actively with the Government of Maharashtra, in close partnership with the European Union and the World Bank by organizing workshops and conferences for sharing and exchanging best practices in areas like managing solid waste, waste water management, energy conservation, security etc.  Mumbai First has been instrumental in helping the government set up a War Room, to monitor the major transformation projects.