Northeast At Heart Of New Act East Policy, Says PM Opening Assam Summit

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government has undertaken many path breaking economic reforms, making the country the most preferred investment destination with the highest FDI in last fiscal at USD 60 billion.

Inaugurating the two-day 'Global Investors Summit' hosted by Assam, PM Modi said the NDA government has sped up the functioning of official machinery and "we want all programmes to be completed before target".

PM Modi stressed that India's growth story will gain further momentum only when there is an all-round development of the North-east and its people, and stressed the importance of 'Act East Policy' in this regard.

"We have created the Act East Policy and the Northeast is at the heart of it.
 "The Act East Policy requires increased people to people contact, trade ties and other relations with countries on India's east, particularly ASEAN countries," he said.

The prime minister said the tagline of the summit Advantage Assam: India's Express way to ASEAN is not just a statement but is a comprehensive vision.

"The Union government has taken up many path breaking economic reforms in last three-and-a-half years, which have simplified procedures for doing business," he said.

Talking about the recent announcements in the budget, he said 45-50 crore people will benefit from the health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat and it has enhanced the possibilities of setting up hospitals in tier II and III cities by hospital chains.
 The new target for the Ujjwala scheme of providing free cooking gas has now been fixed at eight crore women, the PM said.

He said India has become the most preferred investment destination in the world and the highest USD 60 billion FDI came to India in 2016-17.

PM Modi said his government has changed the functioning style of the official machinery and it was now working with greater speed.

"We want all programmes to be completed before target," he said.

Those present at the event included Bhutanese PM Tshering Tobgay, several Union ministers, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, ambassadors and high commissioners of 16 countries, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekharan besides other.
 Assam is hosting its first global investors summit to showcase its manufacturing opportunities and geostrategic advantages to foreign and domestic investors.

The summit aims at highlighting Assam's core competencies in different sectors along with the policy initiatives taken by the state government.

Mr Sonowal had earlier told PTI that the event will showcase the manufacturing prowess and the opportunities offered by Assam in terms of export-oriented manufacturing and services to growing economies such as of ASEAN countried and others in Southeast Asia.