Former UK PM Tony Blair meets Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday to discuss the economic development and growth potential of Odisha.

It is worth mentioning here that the government of Odisha inked an MoU with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) on July 21, 2023. As per the MoU, TBI will provide free policy support and assistance in developing a comprehensive economic strategy for Odisha.

The Chief Minister appreciated the preliminary suggestions of the TBI and expected this cooperation will help in securing balanced industrial growth and resultant inclusive benefit to citizens. He thanked Blair for the support.

The TBI will deploy 4 resources for a period of 24 months. This project team will work under the direct guidance of TBI’s leadership and its network of global experts. The team will work in close collaboration with a team from Odisha.

Headquartered in London and founded in 2016, TBI is helmed by Former Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair. TBI works in over 45 countries. TBI’s domains of expertise include governance, foreign policy, investments, infrastructure & cities, climate & energy, and human capital.

In Odisha, the project team will undertake a range of activities such as current-state analysis, external benchmarking, roadmap design, capacity development, and effective communication of core reforms to enhance adoption among others. Prioritization of emerging industries and development of multimodal transport logistics will be the main agenda to supercharge growth, informed sources.