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Sensitization workshop on cluster development

By CORRESPONDENT

JALUKBARI, Jan 6 - In a bid to identify new possible clusters in Assam, the Regional Resource Centre (RRC) of IIE today organised a sensitization workshop on cluster development for industries department officials, bankers, financial institutions and other departments of the State at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) here.

The participants present at the workshop included district officials from the State Department of Industries and Commerce, representatives of banking institutions and various clusters. The workshop was chaired by Dr Sriparna B Baruah, head, Centre for Industrial Expansion, IIE.

The chief guest of the workshop was Swapnanil Baruah, Commissioner of DICC, Assam. Among the other members of IIE, faculty members AK Baruah, JC Kalita and WR Singh were also present.

The main objective of the workshop was to identify new clusters in Assam which can be developed, and also to identify the role of various banking and financial institutions in adopting and implementing cluster development programmes.

Addressing the participants, Dr Sriparna Baruah gave an overview on RRC and IIE�s experience in cluster development in the NE region. She informed that the Regional Resource Centre for Cluster Development was set up by the Ministry of MSME at the IIE in 2008 with the prime objective of developing the micro and small industry clusters in the region. She also informed that since its inception, RRC has been continuously working towards the development of MSME clusters in the North East as well as other parts of India.

The centre adopts a holistic approach towards capacity building, providing hand-holding support and devising policy interventions in sustainable cluster development. RRC has till date implemented 21 clusters across the NE region.

Chief guest Swapnanil Baruah talked about the challenges he had faced while developing various clusters in Assam. He laid stress on innovative idea generation, technology infusion, value addition and design specialisation for cluster development and developing non-traditional clusters keeping in view the present market demand.

In the interaction session, various new ideas and views on cluster approach were discussed and deliberated upon. About 25 such potential clusters were suggested by various officials of the industries department. Based on their recommendations, the centre proposed to carry out a pre-diagnostic study and start working for clusters in the non-traditional sector.

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