The 11th North East Business Summit (NEBS) began here today. The two-day event is an initiative to facilitate investment, highlight strengths of the North-East Region (NER) and business opportunities which North-East has to offer.

Union Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu, in a video message delivered on the occasion, said an e-commerce portal will soon be launched to sell NER handicrafts and handloom worldwide on the IRCTC website. He said the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council has assured providing land for expansion of the rail link to Darjeeling, which will be further extended to Sikkim.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, will address the conclave tomorrow.

Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day conclave, Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Shri Naveen Verma, has proposed a Green Corridor based on the Indian Railways Broad Gauge network to give a fillip to industry in the North Eastern Region (NER). Inaugurating the 11th North East Business Summit (NEBS) here today, Shri Verma said faster and reliable transit facilities and freight modes are much needed to make the North Eastern Region products competitive.

Pointing out that most of the NER horticulture and agriculture produce is exported to neighbouring countries bordering the NER, Shri Verma said the Government is committed to encourage value addition to the region’s natural produce. The DoNER Secretary urged the entrepreneurs to take advantage of investment opportunities in the region especially as all Central Ministries have earmarked 10 percent budget to projects in the NER. Shri Verma called upon the organizers of the NEBS to host the next Summit in the North Eastern Region so as to demonstrate the emergence of the region as a business destination.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Electronics & IT, Ms. Aruna Sundararajan said around 20% of India’s sunrise BPO sector with an annual turnover of $155 billion is serviced by the NE people. With the Government planning three more Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) units in the NER, the Government hopes at least a fraction of this revenue will be generated from the region itself, she added.

Addressing the gathering, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Shri Ramesh Abhishek appealed the industry chambers to take advantage of the North East Indsutrial Policy programme. He called upon the NE States to strive to improve their rankings in the DIPP’s online real time index of States and UTs based on ‘Ease of doing Business’ (EODB) criteria.

Senior Officers of the Central Ministries and State Governments were present on the occasion.

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