New Delhi : At the valedictory session of North East Business Summit, organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi today, Ram Muivah, IAS, Secretary, NEC considered that entrepreneurs of today’s icons of India and North East needs entrepreneurs to transform the region. He felt that in next 5 years North East will have the best road infrastructure in the country. Muivah believed that with good road infrastructure in place the North East is now poised to take off as tourism and investment destination for entrepreneurs.
He also highlighted the success story of Sikkim which he believed can be followed by other NE states in their pursuit for development. Finally he urged investors to come and invest in the NE states.
Sudhanshu Pandey, IAS, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India said that North East is a vibrant region and right kind policy and programs can transform the region. He also stated that steps are being taken by the Government to make Guwahati a hub for civil aviation. He also announced that the Ministry of Commerce is prepared to give the viability gap funding so that fresh agriculture produce can be directly exported to foreign countries.
His Excellency Sidharto Reza Suryadipuro, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia stated that India and Indonesia are cultural siblings. He felt to realise big goals the two countries need to take small steps. He also highlighted that importance of maritime trade between the two countries and pointed out the recent initiative to connect Port Blair to Aceh as a case point.
His Excellency Rokebul Haque, Acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Delhi pointed out improvement of connectivity infrastructure between the two countries particularly between the NE region and Bangladesh will help in promotion the business activities in the region. He pointed out that ‘Border Haat’ has helped in improving the people to people contact and improvement of economic activities.
Rudra Chatterjee, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce in his welcome address said that the NE region needs to be treated as a dynamic hub for international commerce. He also suggested that Government may pilot policies in the North East before implementing in the rest of the country.
M K Saharia, Chair, ICC North-East Regional Committee Indian Chamber of Commerce said after the formation of Ministry of DoNER things have started to change for North East. He felt that if one plans for a decade ahead NE with will become an important node in the connecting network between India and ASEAN countries.
Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce offered the formal Vote of Thanks.
