Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio said agriculture and allied sectors offer great potential for investment and urged G20 delegates to consider exploring investments in the sectors in the State.
Addressing the inaugural session on “Opportunities for Multilateral Business Partnership in Agriculture and Food Processing Tourism & IT” on the fourth and last day of the 2-day G20 Business Meet in North East at State Banquet Hall here Wednesday, Rio mentioned that Nagaland has naturally occurring Naga chilli, varieties of tropical fruits and vegetables, cash crops like coffee and tea and other organically-grown processed foods and traditional items.
He also said ‘Naga chilli’, considered the world’s hottest naturally-occurring pepper, and varieties of tropical fruits and vegetables, especially pineapple, papaya and passion fruit, garnered good attention wherever they have marketed with their unique taste and quality.
He also said Nagaland’s economy was mainly centred around agriculture and allied activities, with about 70% of the populace being dependent on these sectors. He also said the tropical and sub-tropical climate was suitable for growth and cultivation of agricultural products.
He also said that Nagaland has a pristine and natural environment that offered a huge potential for tourism, especially for those desiring a unique “out-of-the box” experience.
He also said with 119 persons per square km, making Nagaland has lower population density than rest of the country, thereby enjoying a favourable land-man ratio. He said cash crops like coffee and tea also witnessed high quality yield and under the brand “Naturally Nagaland” marketing platform had also been created for the various organically-grown processed foods and other traditional items.
Rio also informed that the state was fully geared up to put in place all the requisite systems and enabling policy frameworks for providing business opportunities and facilitating investments, in order to ensure a rapid and sustained development. Rio pointed out that the theme of India’s G20 Presidency –“One Earth, One Family, One Future”– brought delegates coming from every culture and nationality to the shared oneness among in every aspect.
Rio mentioned that Nagaland also had a relatively young work force and a higher literacy rate than the national average and, with the right guidance and given an opportunity, Nagaland could excel in the IT sector. He assured that the state will create investor-friendly environment and infrastructure, provide institutional support and attractive incentive packages and ensure optimum utilisation of existing resources in order to gainfully utilise/tap emerging opportunities in the national and international markets. He exuded confidence to build strong business ties with the investors.
In his keynote address, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh remarked that the summit was an opportune time as Kohima and entire the North-eastern region were central to New Delhi’s reach-out policy with immediate neighbours to the east like ASEAN countries. Singh also said that as Northeast being India’s gateway to Southeast Asia, the Central government was focusing on seamless land connectivity of the region with neighbouring countries.
He said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of hosting G20 events in every corner of the country during India’s presidency of the group and that the B20 event at Kohima as an outcome of that vision.
He mentioned that Modi’s unique initiatives like the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) showcased the importance being attached to the development of the Northeast by the Centre, adding that these initiatives were over and above the fact that over the last eight years the number of airports in the region had jumped from 9 to 16 and the number of flights connecting the region had increased from about 900 prior to 2014 to around 1,900 today.
Further, he pointed out that many North-eastern States had now become part of the Indian Railways map for the first time and efforts were made to expand the waterways too.
He hoped that the B20 event in Nagaland would provide a unique opportunity to know the Northeast and explore opportunities from close quarters.
One District, One Product: In her address, principal economic adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Trade (DPIIT), Government of India, Rupa Dutta said the B20 events in the Northeast had been held so far in Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim. She mentioned that DPIIT was looking at promotion of industries and internal trade by having two engagement groups – the B20 and Start-Up 20.
Pointing out that GI tags, under DPIIT initiative, had been given to three farm products (Naga Mirchi, Naga Tree Tomato and Naga Sweet Cucumber), she mentioned that efforts were also on to promote organic farming in the State.
Dutta disclosed that another key initiative of DPIIT was “One District, One Product”, under which 11 districts of Nagaland had been selected. She said the Centre had launched Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the Northeast that aimed at development of certified organic production in a value chain mode, which could promote social entrepreneurship and start-ups.
She observed that Nagaland not only had immense agricultural resources, but also had huge potential in skill development, an area where the start-ups could do a lot of good work.
Pradeep Bagla, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry of North-eastern circle, delivered the welcome address, while agriculture adviser Mhathung Yanthan proposed the vote of thanks.
Nagaland chief secretary Jane Alam maintained that Nagaland was making all efforts to tap funding sources, including national financial institutions, to accelerate the pace of development in key sectors. Several externally-aided projects and CSR projects were currently under implementation in the State with encouraging results, he added.
He said the B-20 meet was an opportunity for Nagaland to show to the world its vast potential in agriculture and food processing, tourism and infrastructure sector and hoped that the outcomes would foster a stronger people-to-people global relations and strengthen local-to-global economy by connecting Made in Nagaland goods and services into the international market and global value chain.
Alam welcomed prospective investors to partner with Nagaland in the journey of development and growth and exuded confidence that the business delegations representing global industry leaders and policy planners of G20 countries and their associates would give a serious thought to exploring mutually beneficial partnerships in diverse sectors. He expressed the hope that it will go a long way in strengthening the bonds of cooperation and friendship in the months and years to come.