VISAKHAPATNAM:Catherine Carlton, mayor of the city of Menlo Park, California (USA), held discussions with the district administration here Friday on exploring the possibility of twin city relationship between Visakhapatnam and Menlo Park.
On her first visit to the Port City, Catherine Carlton was busy acquainting herself with the city’s socio-economic status. District collector N Yuvaraj and GVMC commissioner J Pravin Kumar explained the advantages of Visakhapatnam to her. Andhra University vice-chancellor GSN Raju gave a presentation on the varsity.
Catherine opined that the city has the possibilities for uniting in the sectors of education and environment. She also interacted with students and several entrepreneurs at the Startup Village.
Later, at a seminar held by the CII on ‘Exploring a Twin City Relationship Between Menlo Park and Vizag’, as part of its Visakhapatnam zone annual day, Catherine Carlton said that there was no dearth of talent among the US students and there was a lot of potential in the field of entrepreneurship. The Silicon Valley in Menlo Park had been attracting a lot of venture capital firms as well as partner purchase companies. Nearly 31 per cent of residential students and five per cent from other areas were being selected, she pointed out.
“Vizag has high-skilled students and entrepreneurs. Availability of technology and other environmental aspects are major advantages, which indirectly provide access to education,” she said and spoke on the development of digital education, and standards of living between Visakhapatnam and Menlo Park.
Startup Village (Kochi) chairman Sanjay Vijaya Kumar said that students need to change their outlook on life. He cited various examples from his life and urged the students to be prepared to take risks as entrepreneurs.