Indo-Japan workshop in Dimapur dissects key issues; to embark on sector specific studies to identify potential products which can craft the ‘Make in Northeast’ not just a phrase but an actual reality
Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 20
Can the North East region ever rise from the vicious cycle of under development? Can the initiative ‘Make in Northeast’ be finally linked with the production network of South East Asia?
These were key issues that various commentators deliberated on Wednesday at the concluding session of the two-day workshop on “India-Japan partnership towards meeting the challenge of infrastructure development in India’s Northeast” at Hotel Acacia, Dimapur.
While various perspectives were put on the table, at the end, there was a common consensus that ‘Connectivity’ (or the lack of it) was the apparent root cause as well as the remedy for the dismal underdevelopment of the North East region.
Challenges to development
For former Nagaland Chief Secretary, Alemtemshi Jamir, the challenges to development in NE are both topographical as well socio-cultural realities.
The reality, he opined, is the fact that, most of the populace in the region are primarily tribal society practicing agrarian economy manifested in form of shifting cultivation often associated with old and subsistence technology.
Life style revolves around the shifting cultivation, Jamir maintained, inhibiting to some extent, the transition to industrial process. Strict land tenure system often protected under constitutional mechanism act as an obstacle to industrialization process, he further implied.
“Unemployment problem is a myth,” he argued backing his assertion that enough land are available for cultivation as the density of population in the NE is very low at about 77 per Sq Km.
Likewise, in his presentation, the former North East Council Member and Union Secretary of Tourism, MP Bezbaruah expressed concerns that while NE has huge comparative advantages the region possess in form of huge forest coverage, good socio-economic indicators , hydro power potential as well mineral reserves, the potentiality often remain unutilized.
For instance, he informed that in 2015, India’s trade with South-East Asia was to the tune of $ 100 Billion, but the share from NE was miniscule at 0.01% adding that trade from the region to its neighbor is only a meager 1-2% of the total potential.
Strategy for Make in Northeast
Attributing unutilized potential to infrastructural bottlenecks, Bezbaruah batted for making ‘connecting corridor’ under Act East Policy to Eastern development corridor. Identify products with comparative advantages, produce items that reduces import and demanded in South Asia, he offered.
Among others, he saw potential for Make in NE product in food processing, limestone based industries, horticulture and exotic cash crops, polymers, fishing, and high value export oriented plastic as well as health care services. For sustaining Indo-Japan Cooperation in NE, Bezbaruah suggested people to people contact by harnessing strong cultural and historical links as well as establishing institutional linkages.
Taking a different perspective, Alemtemshi Jamir said, “Some semblance of economy can come-up if only inter-state trade within the NE Region is enhanced.”
“We need to restructure the thinking process and redefine ‘Act East as Act West Policy’,” he argued reasoning that development in Myanmar and others might take some time due to various geo-political considerations.
For him, the manifestation of Make in NE product need not necessarily be in tangible approach, but in forms of human capital including education, healthcare cares and hospitality and other services industry which the regions has strong endowment. Agro-based, bio-diversity and post-harvest infrastructure were some of his other suggestion.
For this to succeed, Jamir passionately advocated for linear cities along the foothill in the region which he claimed won’t affect the present land structural system in the region and in which the Japanese could effectively intervene.
The Joint Secretary of Ministry of Development for North East, SL Meena who also spoke on the occasion said the government is doing special focus on NE development to rectify its apparent isolation and geo-political questions.
The Road ahead
How attractive is the region as a potential market and as investment destination? What are the bottlenecks inhibiting development? How policies are formulated and decimated to the general population? If there is agro-based potential, where are the markets?
These were some of the questions raised at the roundtable session held after the presentation. In his concluding observation, Director of ICRIER, Rajat Kathuria said that while a landlocked problem can be solved by connectivity, there was a coordination failure in the NE policy implementation and called for better monitoring and accountability.
Ram Muivah, the Secretary of NEC said infrastructure like roads and other utilities being public goods, it was the responsibility of the government to provide required amenities to the public in order to facilitate development of the region.
“Honestly, who wants to visit or bring development if there are no roads to that particular region?” Muivah alluded stressing the importance of connectivity.
The workshop, which was conducted by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations along with India Foundation, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia and the Government of Nagaland, concluded with a task to embark on sector specific studies to identify the potential products which can craft the Make in Northeast not just a phrase belted out in policy corridor but an actual reality for the people of the region.
