Assam CM woos ASEAN investment, meets envoys

Assam will be organising its first global investors summit on February 3 and 4, 2018 in Guwahati. The Summit is aimed at attracting investment to Assam specially in those sectors where the state is blessed with rich resources and potential.

The Summit, Advantage Assam, also aims at repositioning Assam as the springboard for India's Act East Policy. In this regard the Government of Assam organised an Ambassadors Meet in New Delhi today where Ambassadors from the ASEAN countries and other important strategic partners of India such as Germany, Turkey, Israel, Afghanistan, Kazakhistan.

The summit will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and in the run up to it, road shows have already been held in the United States, Canada, UK, Japan, Singapore, Korea and Cambodia. Road shows have also been held in Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Bengaluru and Chennai are the next stops.

The Ambassadors Meet was preceded by a one-on-one interaction with the Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal invited investments from Japan and offered his total and unconditional support in this regard.

Making a strong pitch for investments in Assam, Sonowal stated that he has been greatly inspired by Prime Minster Narendra Modi by the announcement of Act East Policy together with his vision of North East Region as the new Engine for the growth story of the country with its given natural resources and their potential.

He further added that Prime Minister Modi's has reverently called the north-eastern states as Ashtalakshmi and this has given a great boost to the people's morale in the region to think big and create ecosystem to build-on the strengths of Assam. He said, "When you come to Assam you will fall in love with its pristine beauty, rich culture and warm hospitality. You shall feel completely at home."

The state government is committed to creating a congenial eco system for attracting investments and is already working for creating the desired skilled manpower and ensuring complete ease of doing business, he emphasised.

Mr. Chandramohan Patowari, Minister for Industries and Commerce, Government of Assam, was also present during the interactions.

The chief minister invited the ambassadors to join the state's first Global Investors' Summit "Advantage Assam" along with business delegations from their countries. The summit aims to position the state as "India's Expressway to ASEAN".

The ambassadors after meeting the chief minister appreciated the initiatives taken by the state government and expressed their willingness to work with the Government of Assam to enhance cooperation with their countries.

The government delegation made a detailed presentation on the opportunities in the state of Assam. There is a huge potential for investors to explore investment opportunities in sectors like plastics and petrochemicals, agro food processing, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, river transport and port townships, information technology and ITES and tourism etc. With more than eight country capitals are within a radius of 2000 kms, the state is not at the periphery but at the centre.

The delegation also held an interactive meeting with ministry of civil aviation and senior representatives from aviation industry to highlight the opportunity to enhance air connectivity of Assam and the North East with South Asian countries and other parts of India.

The role that schemes like UDAAN could play in boosting connectivity and growth of the state was also highlighted and called for strengthening the scheme to boost international connectivity as well making Guwahati the hub for India ASEAN air connectivity.

The chief minister invited the aviation industry to take advantage of the emerging opportunities and invest in connectivity with Assam, he assured complete support to willing investors.