Why Act East policy matters for Northeast: BNE speaks to stakeholders

Guwahati: To promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and strategic relationships with countries in the Asia Pacific region by providing enhanced connectivity to Northeast states, the Act East Policy has a lot to offer.

The policy was announced in November 2014, months after Narendra Modi assumed the Prime Minister's post for the first time, as an upgraded version of the erstwhile 'Look East Policy'. Through this pivot, the federal government sought engagement with Southeast Asian countries in connectivity, trade, culture, defence and people-to-people-contact at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.

So which countries is India looking at for these collaborations? Immediate neighbours such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar and also those further east like Thailand, Vietnam South Korea, Japan, Australia and America. 

Business North East recently reached out to a few prominent stakeholders to understand the Act East's relevance at a time when the country has stressed "multilateralism" as a cornerstone of its foreign policy.

“The Government of India has rightly adopted the Act East policy to develop the livelihood of the people of Northeast India", observed Ruhul Amin, the Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh. "It is because 90.8% of the total border of the Northeast region is with countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal."

Guwahati, considered the economic nerve centre of the Northeast region, can be a hub of this engagement with neighbours apart from trade and business relations, observed Amin, adding that the economy of the region can grow manifold if measures for a bigger connection with SE Asia are implemented successfully.

"Bangladesh has a land border with some of the Northeast states such as Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. If it utilises trade and business relations with Bangladesh, both sides will benefit equally", he stated.

In a similar interview, the Consul General (CG) in Royal Bhutanese Consulate General in Guwahati, Jigme Thinlye Namgyal said, “Northeast is our immediate neighbour and we share lots of affinities. We have been given access to the rivers and ports of Pandu, Jogihopa, Dhubri and some land customs stations. This will improve our trade relations with neighbouring countries."

Namgyal also noted that there is a lot of potential to boost trade ties between the Northeast as a whole and Thimphu. "Northeast states of India and Bhutanese traders will have to work together to improve our trade relations; both export and import needs to be increased”. 

Chandra Mohan Patowary, the Act East Policy Affairs Department Minister, asserted that the state government, at the very least, is deeply committed to harnessing its natural endowments of the Northeast region to transform it into an "economic hub. “

“Our policies are focused on creating a business-friendly environment, facilitating ease of doing business, and developing world-class infrastructure to attract domestic and international investors", he said. "Sectors such as agriculture, food processing, handicrafts, tourism, and information technology are ripe for investment, bolstered by a young, skilled workforce and supportive government policies."

Both Assam and Northeast have been able to reap significant economic benefits due to closer ties with BBN and SE Asian countries, he said, citing access to Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh as a recent success story. Patowary also highlighted how Bangladesh can foray into ethanol, methanol, plastic, and hydrocarbon sectors in Assam to improve trade and business. 

"There is immense scope for increasing employment opportunities for the youth of Northeast and neighbouring countries in the value chains developed in the process of integration", he told Business North East.

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