Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma on Saturday said the Centre has accorded required attention to the Northeast, which is paving way for concerted development and growth of the region.
Addressing ‘The Meghalayan Age’ Tourism Conclave at Thadlaskein, near Jowai, which was attended by tourism stakeholders and government officials, the Meghalaya chief minister said, “The Meghalayan Age is an attempt by the government to provide an opportunity for visitors to experience Meghalaya.”
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“We had big plans for the event, however, due to the health advisory on coronavirus, we restricted the event for invited stakeholders, which comprised of media professionals, tour operators and bloggers, who will share our stories to the world,” said the chief minister.
Also read: Meghalayan Age event kicked off in West Jaintia Hills
Talking at length about the ‘Act East Policy’, the Meghalaya CM stressed on the need to explore on the possibility of working collaboratively with India’s neighbouring countries in the field of tourism, boosting cultural and economic ties.
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“We as a government have realised the potential we have with our immediate neighbour Bangladesh. The country is moving very fast, they have a growth rate of almost 8 per cent, their GDP is about 400 billion dollars.”
“We have to look at the opportunity next door and build relations that would economically benefit our people,” said Conrad Sangma.
On the initiatives Meghalaya has taken to put the state forward, the chief minister said emphasis has been laid to attract investments and ensure sustainable development model of growth in sync with nature.
“We are blessed with nature and we want to work on initiatives that would be economical for our people as well as promote growth and development,” the Meghalaya CM exhorted.
Talking about tourism being one of the priority sector, the chief minister said the government is working on models to boost high end tourism in the state that would be remunerative for the people and also ensure that Meghalaya is labelled as the sought-after tourism destination not only in the country but globally.
The event was also attended by Union minister of state for DoNER, Dr Jitendra Singh.