More foreign visits on anvil
SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma along with his 22-member delegation reached Bangladesh and held discussions with Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
The idea behind the visit of the delegations is to engage with business communities, traders and government to explore the potential of economic growth between the two regions.
Earlier, the delegation also visited the site of winter capital of Jaintia rulers at Jaintiapur, Sylhet in Bangladesh.
As Meghalaya shares 443 km of border with Bangladesh, over the years, there has been a fruitful exchange of goods, ideas and culture and the border trade alone is valued over Rs 630 crore.
The purpose of the visit is to deepen the relationships across many sectors and to build networks that are mutually beneficial.
The delegation comprises cabinet ministers aBanteidor Lyngdoh, Sniawbhalang Dhar and Lahkmen Rymbui, senior officials, entrepreneurs and tour operators.
A government statement said that as Meghalaya aspires to be a prosperous state by 2030 and to achieve this goal, the state government has put together a clear strategy that capitalises on core strengths while developing new capabilities for growth and development.
“As a rapidly growing market, Bangladesh has been a destination for the local exports including coal, limestone and boulder stones and the government intends to further improve the border trade through the two-existing border haats at Kalaichar and Balat and to set up new border haats”, the government said.
It said in terms of tourism, Meghalaya offers pristine hill stations, rich culture and music, exciting adventure sports and serene eco-tourism venues and by strengthening cooperation with tour operators of Meghalaya and Bangladesh and developing new historic circuits, Meghalaya government aims to double the tourist footfalls from Bangladesh in the next two years.
Power sector
Meghalaya government sees power sector as another opportunity as currently, Meghalaya has been able to tap only 10% of the 3400 MW hydropower potential and the plan is to significantly increase this capacity by 2022 with the advent of six new medium and large hydro-power projects and Bangladesh is an important potential market for power from Meghalaya.
The delegation is travelling till Dhaka by road and it crossed over to Bangladesh through Dawki border on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, hours before embarking on the four-day visit to Bangladesh, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that state leaders will be visiting neighbouring countries in the coming months to give effect to the Act East Policy on the ground.
He said next on the travel list are Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand.
“It is not possible to act sitting in Shillong. One needs to go the field and meet people. It is the beginning of the entire action plan and hopefully in the next six months, we will be able to complete the first phase of it”, he said.
On Bangladesh, Sangma said the country was growing very fast and presented opportunities that Meghalaya is looking forward to work on and start connecting with them.
“It is a process and hopefully the visit will open up opportunities for some entrepreneurs and could be a major game changer for the state and the region as a whole”, Sangma said.
In the long run, he said that the government is looking at the state being one of the major gateways for North East and the rest of the country to Bangladesh and if that is going to happen Meghalaya would gain.