Bhubaneswar: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair today met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the latter’s residence in the capital city here.

The two leaders held discussions for around an hour at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Odisha Chief Minister in the state capital here, sources said.

The former British PM and Patnaik held discussions on economic development and growth of Odisha and the future perspectives, said an official.

Notably, a MoU was signed between Odisha government and Tony Blair Institute of Global Change (TBI) on July 21.

As per the agreement, the institute will provide advisory support to the state government to realize its overall economic agenda.

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The Chief Minister appreciated the preliminary suggestions of TBI and expected that the cooperation will help in securing a balanced industrial growth and resultant inclusive benefit to citizens.

Blair also praised Patnaik for the state’s success in different sectors.  He appreciated the 5T initiative for bringing transformative changes in governance in Odisha, sources said.

The London-based institute is now providing advisory support to 45 countries across the Globe to help the governments turn ideas into reality, sources said.

The institute assists governments to frame appropriate strategies to realize their economic agenda, they added.

The institute has specialization in governance, foreign policy, investment, urban infrastructure, climate, energy and human capital.

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

It is worth mentioning here that Tony Blair was the Prime Minister of United Kingdom (UK) from 1997 to 2007.