Assam to host Indo-B’desh trade meet

Guwahati: Pushing forward its agenda of placing Assam at the centre point of India’s trade expansion with ASEAN and BBN countries, the Assam government will be hosting a two-day stakeholders’ meet between India and Bangladesh from October 22.
A nearly 90-member delegation from Bangladesh, including two Central ministers and two advisors of the Prime Minister, will be participating in the meet, while a similar top-level team from India, including Central ministers, will represent the host nation.
Informing this at a media interaction here today, Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said, “So far, Assam had been viewed as being in the periphery. We want to change it and place Assam at the centre of this expansion of trade ties with our ASEAN and BBN countries.”
He pointed that India’s domestic production was moving towards being surplus and the South East Asian and BBN countries, with their 80 ml population, offered a ready market.
In India’s attempt to connect with these markets, Assam and North East has an advantageous position by virtue of its geographical location, and Assam is going all-out to capitalise on it, Patowary said.
The minister noted connectivity was primary requisite for Assam and NE to ripe benefits of its geographical advantage, and hence, the focus of the stakeholders’ meet would be on boosting connectivity of road, rail, air, water and information ways with Bangladesh.
“The North East region has 4,800-km-long international boundaries, against the 1,400-km boundary it shares with the rest of India through the Siliguri corridor. Our aim is to capitalise on its proximity with the foreign nations,” Patowary said.
Besides the connectivity aspect, the meet will also deal with issues concerning trade and industry, like role of regulatory authorities and role of transporters and freight forwarders.
“Alongside all these, potential of tourism and people-to-people relations in the backdrop of the shared history and culture of the two countries will also be explored,” he added.
Making a presentation of the connectivity potential of Assam and North East with its neighbouring countries, KK Dwivedi, commissioner and secretary, Industries and Commerce, and Act East Policy Affairs, Assam, said the focus would be to restore the historical ties. (UNI)