Sikkim’s
tourism potential focussed in Shillong meet
A high level delegation from Sikkim led
by Mr RB Subba, minister for tourism and Mr Somnath Poudyal,
minister for agriculture, attended a meeting on investment
opportunities in the North-Eastern region held at Shillong
on Sunday. Department of North-Eastern Region (DONER), North-Eastern
Council (NEC), Indian Chamber of Commerce and Government of
Meghalaya jointly organised the meeting. Senior officials
from the state’s commerce and industries and food security
departments were present at the meeting.
The meeting was also attended by a team from Thailand. The
Thai delegation comprised government officials, representatives
from different trade and investment promotion organisations
and private investors in Thailand.
Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for DONER deliberated
on the historic background of the North-East Region and also
highlighted the initiative taken by the Centre for the region’s
development. Investment opportunities in food processing,
horticulture, floriculture, spices and tourism sectors was
discussed in the meeting. The borrowing of Thai expertise
for development of these sectors in the North-East region
was also discussed. The primary objective of the Thai delegation’s
visit was to facilitate private sector investment in the region.
Sikkim agriculture minister Mr Somnath Poudyal welcomed the
Thai delegation and appreciated the initiatives taken by Union
minister for DONER, Mr Aiyar, for organising the meet. He
highlighted the investment opportunities in Sikkim and extended
invitation to the Thai delegation to visit the state. He also
informed them about the International Flower Festival to be
held in Gangtok and invited their participation in a big way.
Thai minister Mr Jirapact thanked the Government of India
for organising the meeting and declared the year 2008 as the
Year of Thailand and North East India. He said that a North
East Week would be organised in Thailand. The Thai delegation
assured marketing of Cymbidium orchid from Sikkim.
The meeting was also attended by Meghalaya chief minister
Mr DD Lapang, Chief Secretaries of different North-East States,
senior Central officials and others.