ITANAGAR, Nov 14 - Chief Minister Pema Khandu today inaugurated the 5th North East Connectivity Summit at Tawang in the presence of Union Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons and other dignitaries.
Themed �Tourism Connectivity�, the two-day summit, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), is being attended by delegates from neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Bangladesh, officials from the Government of India and representatives from the corporate sector and industry.
The summit is one of the most important forums for action-oriented deliberations on sub-regional economic integration and connectivity between North East India and South East Asia.
Addressing the summit, the Chief Minister called upon the industry representatives to come forward and explore the diverse opportunities offered by the State and the region. He said the State Government is willing to extend its full support to investors who are interested in investing in Arunachal Pradesh.
Citing connectivity as the biggest challenge for Arunachal Pradesh, Khandu said the State has suffered historically primarily due to absence of robust road connectivity with road density of 25 km per 100 sq km area as against an all-India average of 142 km per 100 sq km area.
�Fortunately, the strong support provided by the Central Government for the last four years is now bringing about a visible transformation,� Khandu said.
The Chief Minister stated that the Arunachal Pradesh Government has prepared a road map for connectivity which would ensure reliable connectivity to all administrative and commercial centres by 2022.
He said the Railways has also found a footprint in the State and is going to give a huge fillip to the movement of passengers and cargo as well as tourists to the State.
On air connectivity, the Chief Minister said under the UDAN scheme, Pasighat is now an integral part of the Indian aviation map. Apart from this, there are six helicopter services to Aalo, Itanagar, Tuting, Walong, Yingkiong, and Ziro. Advanced landing grounds at Tezu and Ziro will also become operational soon for fixed wing aircraft.
Drawing the attention of the delegates towards the tourism potential of the State, Khandu said Arunachal Pradesh has a niche in eco-tourism with its unique flora and fauna, its large biodiversity, rolling hills, green valleys, virgin forests and diverse culture and tradition. He said this great tourism potential of the region remains largely untapped and therein lies a great opportunity to develop circuits, develop hotels and other destination infrastructure.
Arunachal Pradesh and the North East offer great opportunities for nature-based ecotourism, adventure tourism, culture and pilgrimage tourism, river tourism, etc.
The Chief Minister, meanwhile, said that more than 4,50,000 tourist arrivals were recorded last year in the State in comparison to the meagre 2,178 in 1999.
The summit was attended by Power Minister Tamiyo Taga, Tourism Minister Jarkar Gamlin, Lok Sabha member Ninong Ering, Chief Secretary of Meghalaya Yeshi Tsering, Chief Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh Satya Gopal and the Chairman of FICCI North East Advisory Council, Ranjit Borthakur.