Hopper lauds Indian cities share in GDP

Hyderabad, June 27 (UNI) US Consul General for South India David Hopper today said Asia was home to some of the world's largest cities which were also the economic engines of the region.

Inaugurating the two-day US Government-supported conference on 'Good Urban Governance in Southern Asia,' at the Administrative Staff College of India here today, he said in India alone, the cities contributed almost 60 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With better infrastructure and expansion of city services, economic growth could be even higher, he said.

The objective of the conference and follow-on training was to share examples of successful urban governance practices in South Asia documented by US Agency for International Development (USAID) project (2001 to 2007) and to establish a South Asia Regional Cities Forum to Sustain Information exchange and learning.

The training was supported by the USAID in partnership with the Ministry of Urban Development and the Administrative Staff College of India.

Mr Hopper said, ''Forums such as this one are all the more meaningful because they help local decision-makers to understand successful practices that have been developed within the region to deal with the challenges of rapid urbanisation.'' The delegates from the Government and the Civil Society from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are attending the event.

UNI