GUWAHATI, July 2 - A 12-member US delegation of the Professional Fellows Program Outbound 2019 called on Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today at Brahmaputra State Guest House and held discussions on various issues.
Notably, under Professional Fellows Program Outbound 2019, 11 participants from across India visit the United States twice every year in spring and fall seasons for six weeks to exchange ideas, strategies and the best practices in the legislative process and policy-making.
Similarly, professional fellows from the US also visit India for a brief period of time as a part of the exchange programme in order to increase their understanding of the Indian governance system, legislative process and society.
The delegation engages with key stakeholders of the government apart from holding dialogues with civil society and undertaking field trips to comprehend the ethos of the Indian society. This year, the delegation has been visiting the cities of Delhi, Lucknow, Guwahati and Shillong.
As part of the tour, the team members today met the Chief Minister and held interaction on the Act East Policy, success stories of Assam, immigrant issues and challenges faced by the State government.
Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s thrust to develop Assam and the NE region through the Act East Policy and the State government�s endeavour to shape the State as the gateway to the South East Asia, Sonowal elaborated the roadmap to capture the 800 million people strong market of the ASEAN and the SE Asian countries through industrial resurgence of Assam in the light of increased investment inflow to the State.
The Chief Minister informed the delegation that with better connectivity and communication, the Act East Policy was putting emphasis on youth exchange programmes along with exchange of culture, literature, tourism, etc., with the neighbouring countries. Due to the Central government�s focus on the development of the region and the State government�s initiatives, consular offices of Bhutan and Bangladesh have been opened in the State. Expansion of Guwahati as the State Capital Region, construction of twin towers for bringing big business houses, development of rail, road, waterways and airways, etc., are some of the activities that were highlighted by the Chief Minister during the interaction.
