From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: With rapid expansion in connectivity in rail, road, air and even waterways, doing business with North Eastern states especially by the next door ASEAN countries has become better than ever before, said Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh.
“India will soon achieve the target of five trillion USD economy with the optimistic environment that has been created under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said while addressing the inaugural session of the two-day India-ASEAN Business Summit on Monday.
“In such a scenario, collaboration with ASEAN countries will play an important role in meeting the target and the contribution of North Eastern states cannot be underestimated.”
“There are three essentials when it comes to ease of doing business – connectivity, communication and ease of regulations,” he said.
Connectivity in NE has been the main focus of the current Government with Sikkim getting its first airport last year.
Singh also informed that Itanagar will be getting its own airport soon.
He also spoke about train connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya and said that the government is in the process of flagging off the first train to Bangladesh from Agartala while mentioning about the inland waterway developments.
He said that the Prime Minister has been emphasising on closer and progressive collaboration with ASEAN countries as well as the development of North Eastern India which is important for business and trade development.
He that said that North East has unexplored potential which needs to be tapped.
Speaking on the occasion, the ambassador of the Royal Thai Embassy and chairman of ASEAN region, Chutintorn Gongsakdi said that the region needs to identify the opportunities available to do business.
He also emphasised on connectivity including air, land and sea connectivity.
He said that the region should aim for people-centred and inclusive economies with focus on environmental, social and corporate governance.
The India-ASEAN Business Summit centering on the theme ‘Today, Tomorrow, Together’ is being organised to strengthen trade and investment flow with ASEAN economies.
The objective of the conference is to enhance the trade trajectory between India and ASEAN nations to new highs.