KOHIMA — Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday said that the state will immensely benefit from the B20 Conference given its strategic location.
Addressing a press conference about B20 Conference, Rio said the state will become as a base for boosting links with the ASEAN countries besides Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Japan.
Northeast and Bangladesh have close ties and Nagaland is all set to benefit from the co-operation. The India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) have brought in a large business delegation from Bangladesh to the B20 conference, Rio informed.
Delegates have expressed interest in restarting the now defunct Paper Mill in Tuli, the CM said, adding that it had “failed miserably” due to the defective machinery and has been liquidated for years now.
Informing that the problems faced by the employees of the industry will be solved, he said he had met the department officials and asked them to submit how to resolve the issue so that a fresh investment can be done.
‘We will take a fresh deal; looking for privatisation and do everything afresh. What the company had left behind, we have to clear up everything, otherwise, the next investment cannot come take it up,’ he said.
Besides the Tuli Paper Mill, delegates are also said to have expressed interest in pulses from Nagaland.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Focused trade and business delegations from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Iceland, Japan and UAE participated in the B20 programme in Kohima.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) facilitated the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) meetings, which received more than 100 requests for interaction with government departments like Tourism, Commerce and Industries, Agriculture, Horticulture, Healthcare and Food Processing, Rio informed.
Nagaland is open for a potential tie-up in the area of tourism, IT, agriculture and infrastructure development, he said, adding that the participation of leading countries in these areas like Japan, Indonesia, European nations, South American and the UAE in the B20 summit will help the state and the local industry to push the economy to greater heights.
He expressed confidence that the conference, which provided the ideal platform for collaboration and partnerships, will usher in new opportunities for the people of Nagaland.