Minister of State
for Small Scale Industries and Department of North East Region,
Shri Tapan Sikdar has called upon the investors to make efforts
for production of world class products in the North Eastern
Region and provide fillip to exports from the area. Speaking
at the valedictory function of the National Seminar being organized
by FICCI on "Promotion of Exports from the North Eastern
Region", here today, he said that the pro-active interface
role being played by the Department of North Eastern Region
has already started bearing fruits. The implementation of projects
has improved, information gap between people of the region and
other parts of the country is being bridged. He also announced
that the Department has launched one of the best interactive
websites.
The Minister said
that the export of horticultural crops plays an important role
in India’s foreign earnings. North Eastern Region has great
potential in this sector. There is vast international market
for Organic Food especially in Western countries. The North
Eastern region offers ample opportunities for producing organic
food, fruits and vegetables. A Technology Mission for Integrated
Development of Horticulture in the North Eastern Region has
been launched by the Central Government. The objective of the
mission is to improve production and productivity of horticultural
crops.
Shri Sikdar further
said that Sericulture is another vibrant area, which is available
for entrepreneurs in North East Region. Government is providing
encouragement to plantations for rearing silkworms for production
of tasar, eri and muga silk. All these varieties of silk command
premium in international market. He pointed out that some of
the finest varieties of tea are produced in North-East region
– Assam Valley and Cachar region in Assam; parts of Tripura,
Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and
Manipur. There is lot of scope available for increasing exports
of tea from this region and for it two important steps are required
– one, attractive packaging and second, brand promotion. He
requested all exporters to utilize the assistance provided by
Government, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards and
other organizations for development and promotional activities
to promote exports of Indian products.
Shri Sikdar added,
today our economy is in the process of being integrated with
the global market. This has posed a biggest challenge for the
Government, as we need to switch over from a managed economy
to one led by market forces with high premium on design, quality
and technology. The food processing sector offers lucrative
opportunities in North Eastern states, he added. Business community
may like to avail the facilities being offered by Government
for food processing technologies meant for rural sector.
