SILCHAR, June 28 - Industries, Commerce and Act East Policy Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Friday said that trade ties with the Southeast Asian nations via Bangladesh will reopen the old trade ties and add a fresh boost to the economic growth of Assam.
Sharing his reactions with The Assam Tribune on the return of the 22-member delegation to Silchar from Bangladesh as a part of the ongoing Sampark Yatra bus tour, which began on June 26 from Guwahati, Patowary, who is heading the delegation said, �Under the Act East Policy initiative envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dynamically steered forward by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the trip to Sylhet district of Bangladesh has been a historic one, arguably the first goodwill trip since Independence. With Bangladesh government passing a resolution to provide access to Chittagong port to the northeastern States, we are very much hopeful that the trip will add the much-needed fillip towards boosting the trade prospects of Assam with the Southeast Asian countries.�
He added that the delegation will also visit Myanmar with the same objective and added that the water trade routes of rivers Brahmaputra and Barak, once open to traffic, can change the face of trade relations of the country connecting with the huge unexplored Southeast Asian market.
�We have excellent possibilities of port access from Brahmaputra from Doikhowa to Chittagong port and Jakiganj to the port for Barak river. The Ministry of MoRT, Government of India has paid Rs 250 crore to the Government of Bangladesh through the Asian Development Bank for access to the port. From July 1, flight service from Guwahati to Dhaka will start and we hope that the trade access between ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries with a market base of 80 crore population will be fruitfully exploited,� he maintained.
