Our Reporter
Dimapur, Sep. 21 (EMN): Advisor for Industries and Commerce, Labour and Employment, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Imnatiba Jamir on Tuesday stated that the unresolved Naga political issues and taxation have created hurdles for many young people who want to take up business as well as discourage people from investing in the state.
He was speaking during the inaugural programme of “Vanijya Utsav” organised by the department of Industries and Commerce in collaboration with Agricultural and Export products Development Authority of India (APEDA) and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on the theme “Showcasing India as a Rising Economic Force”, at Urban Haat in Dimapur.
Jamir said that the department had created a world class export centre at Ganeshnagar in Dimapur but lamented that the state is still not been able to attract even one investor. He said that the unresolved Indo-Naga political issue is one of the major underlying problems hampering the state from moving forward.
He stated that the political struggle was genuine and a big reality, ‘and because of this factor, since the inception of the state, we have been developing a kind of attitude and notion that we have even been failing to own the government’.
“We allow the government to be run by a group of people who fight elections with their political colour party representing whoever forms the government; we let them form the government in their own ways and then the people, they do not know how to participate in the people’s scheme also,” he stated.
On behalf of the aspiring youths, he appealed to the government of India and the Naga national leaders, who are part of the negotiating parties, to include construction of international highways connecting Naga-inhabited areas and international trade centres in the state when they talk about competencies.
He stated that the present state government is also ‘very serious' about the Indo-Naga political issues and so came the notion of an all-party government under the nomenclature United Democratic Alliance.
“If there is only one solution then it has to be channelised through one window and it has to be through one platform only,” he said.
He also informed that a state-level strategy committee had already been set up on the direction of the chief minister to strategise by taking the assistance of Indian Institute of Foreign Trades, based in Calcutta.
He further informed that directions had already been given to district committees headed by the deputy commissioner of all districts by the state-level steering and monitoring committee headed by the chief secretary, and action plans are already in the process.
Review NLTP Act
Jamir further suggested reviewing the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act (NLTP Act), saying that ‘if the ban is lifted, we can generate a lot of money and that fund can be used for our business to progress and to take forward an alternative economy.’
He also stated that belief about ‘white collar jobs’ being the best was slowly coming to a close.
Kekhrievor Kevichusa, Commissioner and Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Nagaland, stated that they were encouraging the growth and development of export-oriented goods and it would go down to the district level where identification of goods for exports would be encouraged.
‘We have unique products and have high value, and let us focus on high value and quality, not necessarily high volume products,’ he told the entrepreneurs, adding that Nagaland is the only state where a special economic zone has been developed and it is their endeavour to get it activated by next year.
Assistant General Manager of APEDA, Bidyut Baruah, shared that for exporting, ‘we need to have volume or else it will be difficult getting buyers as they want continuous buy of the product’.
‘Therefore in order to have proper production, the government has introduced a policy called Agri-export policy in 2018 where we have a target to enhance our support,’ he stated.
“We have a lot of opportunities in the north-eastern region but there are certain constraints like lack of post harvest management and lack of how to manage the quality of the product and this is basically for which the department of horticulture and APEDA can work together,” he stated.
Economic Advisor of Commerce, India, C Vanlalramsanga informed that as per records, Nagaland’s export revenue in 2020-21 was INR 44.6 9 crore which is about 0.23 % of the state gross domestic product. He stated that there is a huge call for improvement.
“As a nation, we need to maintain a sustained export of about INR 1.09 billion a day and the participation of states and districts and export council commodities board and authorities will be very critical during this period,” he added.