'Policy support needed to make Northeast a biz hub'

GUWAHATI: As the two-day investment summit came to a close on Sunday, business leaders said the next course of action would be to implement policies that can turn the northeast into a business hub for trading with Asean and the Bhutan-Bangladesh-Nepal (BBN) bloc.
"Entrepreneurs should have the courage to move forward and make the best possible utilization of the locational advantage of the region as it lies close to the Asean and BBN countries. Small, micro and medium enterprises have a great opportunity in the region as Asean is a big market for them," Asean-India Business Council (AIBC) co-chairman Dato Ramesh Kodammal said.

Kodammal further suggested that northeast trading and tourism information centres should be opened in southeast Asian countries so that people there can know about the places to visit in the region. "We have an advantage of 2 billion people living in northeast India and and other Asean countries, with a young population of 60% who are our future. We have everything to our advantage. India-Asean can be a partnership which will emerge as a global economic leader and the cooperation is also going to help the northeast," he added.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the summit is a great way forward to strengthen the bilateral ties between Assam and Asean and BBN countries. "We have miles to go but I assure full support and cooperation," Sonowal said.