Guwahati to host international meet to promote investment in the Northeast

Guwahati to host international meet to promote investment in the Northeast
Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, February 15: Come February 22 and Guwahati, the Gateway to the Northeast will be playing host to the first-ever international conference aimed at promoting investment in the region that is so advantageously located close to a booming South-East Asia.

The conference, aptly christened as "Guwahati Initiative" is being jointly organised by FICCI, the Federation of Industries and Commerce of North-Eastern Region (FINER) and the government of Assam, and would run for two days.

Finer vice-president Abhijit Barooah said that the conference would also identify sectors in which there are better prospects for investment in the Northeastern region, apart from promoting investment by the business community from both within India and abroad.

"We are having participation from a number of countries including the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Hongkong and Thailand, apart from the adjoining countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar," Barooah, a leading industrialist of the region said.

Besides foreign delegates, representatives of leading corporate houses of the country are also expected to take part, he said, adding that this would also facilitate development of business linkages between the Northeastern region and the neighbouring countries.

The organisers have in the meantime identified a number of sectors that can attract investors to the Northeastern region. Those are: agro-based industries (including floriculture and horticulture), food processing, tourism, information technology, bio-technology, oil exploration, infrastructure development, and power.

Various concessions made available under the special Northeast industrial policy announced by the government of India has already begun attracting investors to the region. A number of export promotion industrial parks have also come up in the region.

Meanwhile, the economy of the Northeast is all set to receive a big boost with India strengthening bilateral ties with Myanmar and opening up various trade routes between the two countries.

It is noteworthy that with militancy and violent incidents receding significantly during the past one year, the Northeast has witnessed a manifold increase in number of tourists, both domestic as well as foreign. Kaziranga, Tawang, Manas, Shillong and Majuli have already emerged as major tourists destinations in the region, apart from Kamakhya, the ancient shakti shrine in Guwahati.