In an effort to harness this invaluable agenda of making the North East Region the face of India in the South-East of Asia, the union ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) along with the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) conducted the 4th North East Business Summit on the 15th and 16th of September, 2008 at Guwahati. The summit was inaugurated by His Excellency M. Hamid Ansari, Hon’ble Vice President of India.The Vice president of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari while inaugurating the summit said that the Vision 2020 Document is the best testimony of the commitment of the union and various state governments. He added that under North-East Industrial Investment and Promotion Policy (NEIIP), 68 investment proposals worth US$ 1.5 billion had been received in various sectors. However there were some very disheartening figures which shows why the northeastern part of India is still so far behind. The closeness of the summit as being held in Guwahati brought in a strong delegation of 1200 plus people apart form the various international delegates present at the summit. Interestingly a lot of local entrepreneurs got insights into the state of affairs at the top level of the country. The Chief Ministers of the various states and the state representatives all tried their best to showcase their respective states as the best for foreign direct investment to their foreign counterparts.  In a very interesting speech by the Minister of Industries, of Assam drew a vision map for the North East prospect by drawing a circle taking Guwahati as its center and with a radius of 2000kms thereby encompassing the maximum number of countries from SEA.

Various points were outlined to the different issues of the Vision 2020 Document. A showcase of what was on offer was presented by the respective representatives of the states so as to lure the investors into their states. The long prevailing assumptions on the region of which the sense of insecurity and no integrated road map was considered as one of the major reasons or deterrents for the short queue of investors to the North East. However the DoNER minister iterated the fact that four of the states viz, Sikkim, Arunachal, Mizoram and Meghalaya were completely free of violence. He stated that apart from certain pockets in Karbi and Cachar areas, Assam is by and large peaceful. Also Nagaland is much safer than its reputation and Tripura is one of the three states moving at top speed. A major boost for the agro sector is in the offering. One of the interesting points outlined by Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Commerce, Government of India was the fact that the Brahmaputra valley, though being one of the most fertile regions of the country, the farmers were not harnessing its true potential. Farmers else where in the country grow three to four crops in a year whereas farmers in the region grow only one crop. According to the minister, the green revolution is yet to come to the North East.  By and large the summit was a success with more numbers of expressions of interest shown by the potential investors in the region. A total of 64 companies have shown their interest in the region with 240 expressions of interests. What remains to be seen is how many of these interests materialize and how far are we in achieving the economic privileges which existed half a century ago. The question remains are we ready to be the face of the nation to South East Asia?

Harsh Jhunjhunwala