Sonowal takes investor summit pitch to Bengaluru

GUWAHATI: Taking ahead the pitch for the Global Investors' Summit to be held in Assam, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday began a road show in Bengaluru.
"With its transformation, Assam is gearing up as the new growth engine for making a new India. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Act East Policy, which envisions the northeast as ashtalaxmi, the state government has decided to hold the Global Investors' Summit to create awareness among prospective investors about Assam's potential," Sonowal said. The road show was part of a series of initiatives to reach out to investors and industrialists from across India and abroad to ensure maximum participation in the first ever global investors' summit, which will be held in Assam in February.

Addressing more than 300 business leaders, the chief minister spoke about the business landscape in Assam — focussing on ease of doing business, single window clearance system, skilled workforce and the state's abundant natural resources. The government's thrust on reviving growth and investment cycles is already reaping benefits, Sonowal said, citing the Rs 6,500-crore investment his government brought to the state in its first year in office. "Entrepreneurship is given a big boost in the state. New policies for supporting young entrepreneurs have been put in place. Skill development institutes and incubation centres for aspiring entrepreneurs in partnership with foreign nations are being set up," he added. Assam hopes to host a large number of international business delegations apart from domestic investors during the summit.

Around 2,000 industry leaders and representatives are expected to attend the meet. At the curtain-raiser for the summit, Sonowal had said Assam holds a lot of untapped potential. "Assam is no more a land of extremism. It has become a land of 3 Ps — Potential, Prosperity and Possibility," he had said. The state has identified a number of focus sectors for the meet — including agriculture and food processing, organic cultivation and bamboo, handloom, textile and handicrafts, inland water transport, port township and river front development and logistics.

Other focus areas include information technology and information technology enabled services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, plastics and petrochemicals, power, tourism, hospitality and wellness, petroleum and natural gas and civil aviation.