By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: In a move that could revolutionise the idea of entrepreneurship in Meghalaya, and the North East, an upbeat Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday launched the online registry and marketing portal MeghaMart from his office chamber in the presence of the Co- Chair of Young Leaders Connect (YLC) 6, Larsing Ming Sawyan, members of YLC, local entrepreneurs and other officials in Shillong.
MeghaMart.com is a website created by the Government of Meghalaya through the Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship (MIE) for listing of local enterprises and their products under the overall theme of ‘Made in North East’ and ‘Made in Meghalaya’.
The objective is to provide a digital platform for local entrepreneurs and businesses of the North East and Meghalaya to reach out to global markets and buyers through MeghaMart’s social and digital media promotion and marketing.
With the tagline – “The Best of North East at your Doorstep” the website will provide the much needed exposure and access to such markets for SMEs of Meghalaya and the North East which lack formal business training, and for those that cannot afford a physical set -up or the conventional ‘shop’ in a marketplace and enable them to sell their products on a much wider scale than previously possible without them having to invest in a website of their own.
Buyers of products can contact sellers through the site and directly negotiate quantities, prices, shipping etc while sellers will have to register their businesses or enterprises at https://meghamart.com/register/.
A video guide on how to register and upload product photos is present on the page to assist first timers.
The launch of MeghaMart is part of the chief minister’s initiative to promote and foster enterprise and entrepreneurship in the state by providing a platform to showcase the products and services of these enterprises.
Together with the Entrepreneur of the Month programme and a host of other enterprise ecosystem initiatives by the state government, Meghalaya is leading the way to sustainable employment generation through entrepreneurship for the benefit of generations to come.
Present at the launch were bright young entrepreneurs all raring to go. Two young entrepreneurs, who are currently manufacturing bamboo products including bamboo toothbrushes which were certified by the chief minister himself to be working very well, were present in the CM’s room where the launch was held.
Later speaking to this reporter, they said that at present they can only manufacture about 10 toothbrushes a day because of want of adequate machinery.
When asked if they had approached banks/financial institutions to help upscale their business, they said that they had not yet done so, although their requirement is only to the tune of about Rs 15-20 lakh.
James E Dkhar who runs the NELA Handloom Training cum Production Unit at Mawkasiang has come up with highly absorbent hand towels hand woven from cotton.
James also presented the chief minister with a stole that is woven on the special fly looms provided by the German Organisation, GIZ. The checked stole is a mix of eri (ryndai) and cotton and has an excellent finish.
The chief minister said that he would request the local hoteliers to buy the products such as hand towels and others for use in their set-ups and thereby popularise the products.
Hotelier Larsing Ming Sawyan has given a commitment to use these products in his chain of hotels.
The chief minister also encouraged the entrepreneurs to use biodegradable packing material for their products. Those at the meeting had a taste of healthy cookies made of wheat, quinoa and chia seeds by Mary Gracia Wankhar of Le Organica.
The initiative already has ten registered entrepreneurs and 50 products that include spices such as turmeric and black pepper, dry fish, black sticky rice and several other indigenous products.
With a robust procurement policy in place the farmers who are the producers of these farm products can expect to get a fair price as it will eliminate the exploitative middle man.