Advisor Imnatiba, SBI officials and BAN members during the MoU signing.
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 6 (MExN): The Business Association of Nagaland (BAN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India (SBI) to finance 1,000 entrepreneurs.
The MoU was signed at the NIIE trade fair which culminated in Dimapur on November 6. A press release from the BAN informed that the MoU will “bring hope and huge respite to the genuine entrepreneurs of the State. This will have a paradigm shift towards how business is run in the State.”
“As per the MOU, BAN will facilitate identification, preparation of MSME through project screening, documentation and submission to SBI and finally once the loan is sanctioned, BAN will be responsible in providing training on book keeping, GST filing, statutory compliances etc. BAN will also closely monitor, handhold and actively intervene to avoid any loan becoming irregular. Quarterly performance review of all beneficiaries will be held between SBI and BAN,” it informed.
The MOU envisages to target 1,000 enterprises for financing in the next two years “which will create huge employment opportunities while expecting to contribute to the tune of 3 billion rupees to the nation’s GDP.”
Delivering his speech as the chief guest at the valedictory function of the NIIE trade fair, Imnatiba Jamir, Advisor, Industries & Commerce and Employment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, stated that the trade fair will help create a new environment where young people will take a different approach to address their unemployment issues.
Pointing out some of the few factors that have held Nagas back, Imnatiba stated that since the conception of statehood, Nagas have been depending everything on the government. This is the reason why the Nagas were still struggling and not going along with the rest of the country, he said. He also expressed gratitude to various organisations for acting as a pressure group for discouraging corruption and wrong culture built up through misconstrued notions in the government sector.
Further, he expressed happiness to learn that the BAN has been visiting every district in the state, disseminating various schemes and programs of MSME and creating district chapters of BAN, which he said, would create a business ecosystem in the state. He also thanked SBI for taking proactive measures with the signing of the MoU with BAN to provide loans to Naga entrepreneurs.
Earlier, the programme was chaired by Longleng district Convenor, BAN, Lemjan B Phom; welcome address was delivered by BAN Advisor, Zubeno Mozhui; AGM Regional Business Office, SBI, Dimapur, A Hangsing delivered a speech while souvenir report was delivered by Convenor, Souvenir Committee, Dr LanusanglaTzudir. Vote of thanks was proposed by trade Fair Convenor, Benthungo Kithan.
