India\u2019s North Eastern Region (NER) comprising eight States \u2014 Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura are unique in terms of growth opportunities it offers by inter-locking the region with the country\u2019s neighbours in the South and South East Asia. The region has potential to develop into the India\u2019s economic powerhouse, being a vibrant source of energy, oil, natural gas, coal, and limestone, besides being endowed with India\u2019s largest perennial water system in the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries. NER is also rich in horticultural products, plantation crops, vegetables, spices, rare herbs, and medicinal plants. The region offers unlimited tourism opportunities, rare flora and fauna, natural scenic beauty, unique performing arts, and varied cuisine and handicrafts.
NER\u2019s locational advantage and rich resource endowment provides the ideal setting for its development as a hub for dealing with India\u2019s eastern neighbours. Perhaps more importantly, NER can emerge as a strategic base for foreign\/domestic investors to tap into the South Asian region, which is getting integrated through the operationalisation of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and the Agreement on Trade in Services. Besides the policy was not confined to economic ties between India and its eastern neighbours, but developed into broader ties, which included political, economic, security and cultural linkages. With these aim, Government of India deliberated on three C\u2019s: Commerce, Connectivity and Culture.
Trade and economic development are one of the more prominent advantages of the Act East Policy (AEP) for the northeast, as well as India. It will be an important factor in promoting economic ties between the northeast and its neighbours, with a view to ending the economic separation of the region from the rest of India. It should also help in promoting intra-trade economic linkages. It would help in reducing informal trade and bring it into the ambit of formal trade, generating revenue for the states of the northeast. Due Emphasis has to be laid on developing industries and services that would utilise the already present resources of the region. For example, stress can be laid on developing service industries in the region that would also help in generating employment opportunities for the English-speaking youth of the region. The northeast is largely an agriculture based economy and local industries have to be established to add value to this produce. The economic success of the policy would depend on the development of infrastructure that is at present lacking in the region but improved a lot since 2014.
This development in economic activities would be related to the second \u2018C\u2019 of the policy that is connectivity. The flow of commerce needs connectivity, which means infrastructure development in terms of road, rail and air. This calls for promoting investments in projects not just in the northeast, but also in infrastructure projects in the partner countries, especially Myanmar, particularly in respect of ports such as Sittwe, which is very recently operationalised and international highways to connect the North Eastern Region to ASEAN. Such investment might also be encouraged in areas where infrastructure is required for transit between the region and the rest of India, as also for trade with the neighbourhood and beyond. Connectivity will also usher an all-round development within the region in terms of social development also.
Such development perspective would encompass third C: culture. Connectivity is not limited to just the physical movement of goods, but also alludes to the movement of people, ideas and knowledge. Such contacts could be through professional bodies, academic institutions, students exchange programmes, traders\u2019 chambers and associations, industrialists\u2019 groups, artists, sportsmen, etc. The exchange of books, publications and newspapers and television programmes would also fall in the ambit of people-to-people contacts because of their impact on opinion-making and improving relations. These positives can be harnessed by making appropriate policy interventions aimed at addressing the critical constraints that the region faces at the present juncture. The best outcomes can be achieved by evolving a regional approach, as opposed to policy measures taken for individual states, while drawing trade policy for the NER.
As the markets in the region is small, by integrating with the neighbouring countries as well as South and South Asian countries, the region can reap the benefits of economies of scale. But compared to other parts of the country, the region is lagging in terms of economic development. As such trade and investment should receive focused attention. Also, trade is an engine of growth more so in the present economic outlook of globalization.
North Eastern Region of India (NER) of India is central to India\u2019s growing economic and strategic partnership with Southeast and East Asia. The NER is also central to India\u2019s Act East Policy (AEP), and acts as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia. But when we talk about trade, it is only border trade that is in existence that too not potentially exploited. Although Policy was in existence as Look East Policy for above three decades, nothing much happened beyond opening border trade points and carrying out minimum border trade. But a fresh insight comes about after rephrasing the policy as ACT EAST POLICY.
Among all South Asian Countries, Bangladesh is a major trading partner of India especially in the context of North Eastern Region of India. 25 Land Custom Stations are operational\/ functional with Bangladesh; the functional Land Customs Stations have been performing well in spite of many constraints. The product – wise trade between NER and Bangladesh indicates a complementarily between the resource availability in the NER and the demand structure of Bangladesh. Bangladesh lacks mineral resources like coal and limestone which the country imports from the NER. In return, the NER imports finished products from Bangladesh. This provides a firm basis for trade expansion between the two countries. Exports from NER to Bangladesh dominate NER – Bangladesh trade. The NER exports to Bangladesh coal, limestone, stone boulder, Stone, raw hides, oranges, fresh ginger, bamboo, dry fish, fresh fruits (citrus) etc. and imports, cement, Hilsa Fish, Cotton waste, synthetic drinks, plywood, synthetic net fabrics, soap, plastic goods, readymade garments, process food etc. Trades are mostly primary products which have not provided opportunity of value addition within this region. In the last 32 years of Look east policy, the region achieved little. Why?
a. The development paradigm for the region has been fraught with overwhelming security concern which has been restricting its engagement with the South East Asian Countries through Myanmar;
b. Certain institutional arrangement like the ILP and Restricted Area Permit has come in the way of economic integration; c. Poor connectivity within the region.; d. This has been reflected in low urbanization, weak manufacturing base and low economic growth in the region. As a result, the region could not take benefits from regional integration & cooperation.
Some of the important aspects of this Act East policy may be: Connectivity and Physical infrastructure to facilitate trade; trade and investment protocols; Shortfalls in operationalisation of existing assets and facilities; Soft aspects of bi-lateral \/ multi-lateral relationships such as in tourism and enhanced people to people interaction through sports, culture, academic and medical research etc.
Trade and Investment Complementarities: Although one can see improved relations with ASEAN since mid-nineties which resulted in growth of total trade between ASEAN and India, the share of the North East India staggers at only 0.03 percent in total trade volume. This is mainly due to supply side constraints which affect Indo-Myanmar and Indo-Bangladesh trade through North East. A major challenge to developing the trade potentialities of the region has been low value addition and development of production chain which can create production network among the states of the region to tap emerging markets of ASEAN region. The possibility however rests on identification of niche areas in the region for trade with countries in South and South East Asia. Given the fast-emerging energy market in South East Asia, it can be observed that north east India with vast hydro power potential can emerge as a partner in energy trade. Also, service sector can be niche market and can be a significant partner in trading services related to education, health and hospitality. Such possibilities also accompany concern given the rich ecological and cultural diversity of this region. So, it would be necessary to understand various kinds of trade-offs offered by such possibilities.
Connectivity Issues: For development of North East India, it is important to convert the \u2018Land Locked\u2019 North East to \u2018Land Linked\u2019 North East. It is important to take note of the existing and currently undergoing transnational infrastructure under various initiatives of greater regional cooperation which hold promises of opening up the region and linking it through South and South East Asia. Most critical for the region: (a) the Trilateral Highway between India, Myanmar and Thailand, (b) the Asian Highway Network and (c) the Kaladan Multi Model Project. The importance of exploring alternative linkages and avenues of connectivity eg. Stilwell road linking fast growing Yunnan region of China. Once such connectivity points are identified, then the region needs to improve all types of back-end connectivity within the region including promoting air hub at Guwahati connecting countries in South and South East Asia.
Challenges and Opportunities in Building Strategic Partnership: Opportunities emanating from strategic partnership with ASEAN, BIMSTEC and similar regional initiatives are well known. However, in order to have due share in it, the North East India has to witness new growth through connectivity, cyber cables, energy, services and tourism hub under Look (Act) East Policy framework leading to the creation of industrial and economic corridors.
There are challenges some of which may be: Weak economic and production base; Deficient infrastructure; Security concern including insurgency and troubled border; The China factor; Extreme heterogeneity within the region. North East to become \u2018central\u2019 to Look (Act) East Policy instead of being a mere \u2018gateway\u2019, perspective shift is important. Five interconnected issues are critical to such shift. a. Integration of the economy within the region is fundamentally necessary. Integration in terms of physical connectivity on one side while on the other, the unification of markets within the region to benefit from economies of scale; b. The necessity for policy interventions towards lowering the relatively high transaction costs in the region. Notwithstanding the institutional diversities, removing institutional impediments within the region created by such diversities to economic integration that usually lead to higher transaction costs is crucial; c. Rationalization and harmonization of various policies, rules and laws within the region is a key issue; d.
There is an urgent need of identifying areas of comparative advantage of the region and complementarities of between the region and its neighbouring countries. In this context, forging strategic partnership, networking and facilitating people to people contact for exchange of ideas and improving mutual understanding between North East and South East Asia need to be stressed. Challenges are many but it is the people and Government of North Eastern States need to work in harmony to overcome these and accrue benefits through trade with South and South East Asian countries.
Prof (Dr.) Saundarjya Borbora, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI University,
Nagaland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India\u2019s North Eastern Region (NER) comprising eight States \u2014 Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura are unique in terms of growth opportunities it offers by inter-locking the region with the country\u2019s neighbours in the South and South East Asia. The region has potential to develop into the India\u2019s economic powerhouse, being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}