ITANAGAR, Feb 5 - Opening wide the gate to investors from across the globe to venture into the resource-rich State, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has asserted that the strategically located frontier State bordering Bhutan, China and Myanmar vis-�-vis Government of India�s �Act East� policy, offers immeasurable opportunities for business and growth in the years to come.
Convening an Investors� Meet with top entrepreneurs at Ahmedabad on the sidelines of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit recently, Khandu categorically stated that Arunachal Pradesh is ready to accept investments in agriculture, horticulture and tourism sectors immediately to begin with.
�Arunachal Pradesh is favourably situated between the huge markets of mainland India in the South and South-Asian countries beyond its borders,� he pointed out.
The Chief Minister observed that Arunachal Pradesh remained closed to investors from outside due to its remoteness and poor market. However, he said the State is opening up its treasure-trove with better communication network like the Trans-Arunachal Highway, Advanced Landing Grounds, and extension of railway lines, etc., and a more congenial atmosphere of doing brisk business.
�Arunachal Pradesh now means serious business and that�s why we are here today,� he remarked.
Hosts of business houses based in Gujarat and elsewhere, while expressing their keen interest in doing business in Arunachal, swarmed the Arunachal Help Desk with their queries on investment policy, land laws, tax structures, mobility within and beyond the State, banking facilities, etc.
The investors, which included the Sun Group, expressed keen interest in high-end tourism, luxury hotels, solar power, education, food processing and other agriculture and horticulture-related sectors.
Several probable investors also raised issues relating to State�s take on investor oriented investment policies, flexibility of laws, to which the Chief Minister assured assistance in the form of investor-friendly policies, subsidies from Union Government, tax holidays and single-window clearance system.
The Chief Minister invited the investors to Arunachal Pradesh where a seminar on investment will be organised to address issues of the investors in detail. It is expected that about 20 potential investors from Gujarat who expressed their keen interest on investing in Arunachal Pradesh will visit the State in February to explore areas of investment.
At the meet, the Chief Minister was assisted by Deputy CM Chowna Mein, Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism PD Sona, Chief Secretary Shakuntala D Gamlin, Principal Secretary, Home, Satyagopal and Commissioner, Investment Ashis Kundra.