Advantage Assam-Global Summit to bring North East into world focus

India's growth story will gain speed only when there is all round development of North East and its people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while speaking at the Advantage Assam-Global Investors Summit in Guwahati on Saturday.

''Assam is ranked first among the Northeastern states in the Ease of Doing Business report. With present leadership of the state government, Assam is going to further improve its current position to emerge as one of the most sought after states for investment,'' Modi said.

The state has identified a number of focus sectors, including agriculture and food processing, organic cultivation and bamboo, handloom, textile and handicrafts, inland water transport, port township and river front development and logistics.

''We are restructuring the 'National Bamboo mission' with the amount of Rs1,300 crore. This will benefit people of North East, especially the farmers of this region,'' Modi added.

The 'Advantage Assam: Global Investors Summit 2018', highlights Assam's geostrategic advantages and core competencies in different sectors along with the policy initiatives taken by the state government.

The state has identified a number of focus sectors, including agriculture and food processing, organic cultivation and bamboo, handloom, textile and handicrafts, inland water transport, port township and river front development and logistics.

''We are restructuring the 'National Bamboo mission' with the amount of Rs1,300 crore. This will benefit people of North East, especially the farmers of this region,'' Modi added.

Modi said the tagline of the meet "Advantage Assam: India`s expressway to ASEAN" is very appropriate and not just a statement but it is a "comprehensive vision".

Speaking to media about the significance and the diverse dimensions of the two-day meet, union minister of state for development of northeastern region (DoNER) and MoS PMO, personnel, public grievances and pensions, atomic energy and space, Jitendra Singh said the meet will bring Northeast into the world focus and open new gateways of trade and business within the region as well as outside the region, with ASEAN nations and South-East Asia.

Singh said the two-day event of such magnitude itself is a great breakthrough for a city like Guwahati. This event, he said, will not only have a great relevance from investment point of view, but it has also brought Assam and the entire Northeast region into the cosmopolitan mainstream of India's economic growth.

The minister appreciated the initiative taken by the Assam government and disclosed that the Assam minister for industries has suggested the holding of a follow-up meeting with representatives from all the states at the union capital, New Delhi, soon after the conclusion of the two-day Guwahati Summit.