ID :
19230
Fri, 09/12/2008 - 14:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/19230
The shortlink copeid
ASEAN DIPLOMATS TO TOUR INDIA'S NORTH EAST TO EXPLORE TRADE
NEW DELHI, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- India wants to open up the untapped, backward but resource-blessed North East states to the economically fast-paced Southeast Asia to spur trade, which can eventually uplift the region to match the nation's growth trajectory.
The North East region, which is strategically important as it has international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, and Tibet, is currently growing at four percent, while India's overall economy is steaming at nearly
nine percent annually.
At a two-day Fourth North East Business Summit planned in Guwahati, Assam, next
week, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region would be inviting
Asean ambassadors and a battery of foreign investors, including from Singapore
and Thailand, to discuss investment opportunities.
"We want to give a special flip to the North East and Southeast Asia as part
of our Look East Policy. While North and South India has received encouraging
attention, North East has not received any such attention," minister in charge,
Mani Shankar Aiyer told a media briefing.
The region, comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, is home to nearly 40 million people and
a potential gateway to Southeast Asia.
These hilly and tribal populated states has 38 percent hydropower potential of
the country and nearly 900 million tonnes of coal and over 500 million tonnes
of oil reserves, and it is covered with a canopy of rich bio-diversity forest.
Despite its richness, it has failed to keep abreast with the national
development, as investors continue to shy away, largely due to lack of decent
infrastructures, poor market access and to some degree security threats posed
by insurgents.
"We want to put the neglected North East of India on the map and wake up the
diplomatic community. We attempt to build the region as a major FDI (foreign
direct investment) centre and export hub of India," added the minister.
Malaysia's High Commissioner to India Tan Seng Sung is expected to lead a small
delegation to the region on Monday.
-- BERNAMA
The North East region, which is strategically important as it has international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, and Tibet, is currently growing at four percent, while India's overall economy is steaming at nearly
nine percent annually.
At a two-day Fourth North East Business Summit planned in Guwahati, Assam, next
week, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region would be inviting
Asean ambassadors and a battery of foreign investors, including from Singapore
and Thailand, to discuss investment opportunities.
"We want to give a special flip to the North East and Southeast Asia as part
of our Look East Policy. While North and South India has received encouraging
attention, North East has not received any such attention," minister in charge,
Mani Shankar Aiyer told a media briefing.
The region, comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, is home to nearly 40 million people and
a potential gateway to Southeast Asia.
These hilly and tribal populated states has 38 percent hydropower potential of
the country and nearly 900 million tonnes of coal and over 500 million tonnes
of oil reserves, and it is covered with a canopy of rich bio-diversity forest.
Despite its richness, it has failed to keep abreast with the national
development, as investors continue to shy away, largely due to lack of decent
infrastructures, poor market access and to some degree security threats posed
by insurgents.
"We want to put the neglected North East of India on the map and wake up the
diplomatic community. We attempt to build the region as a major FDI (foreign
direct investment) centre and export hub of India," added the minister.
Malaysia's High Commissioner to India Tan Seng Sung is expected to lead a small
delegation to the region on Monday.
-- BERNAMA
