Travel advisory against Northeast a major hurdle in attracting investments: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that the travel advisories issued by several countries against the northeast India pose a significant challenge in attracting investments, as the state prepares for a major business summit later this month. Sarma mentioned that he has appealed to foreign nations to consider Assam separately, rather than grouping it with all Northeastern states. Ongoing discussions with Japan and Australia are aimed at persuading them to revoke the negative advisory.

Sarma noted that both Japan and Singapore have shown interest in recruiting from Assam, with both countries running language courses in Japanese and English, to make Assam’s youth employable in their nations.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Advantage Assam 2.0 Investment and Infrastructure Summit, Sarma explained, “Most embassies have marked Assam in ‘grey’ and issued warnings to their citizens against travelling to Assam, as it is grouped with the rest of the ‘North East’. Removing these advisories is our top priority,” he said, PTI reported. He added that efforts are being made with Japan and Australia to reconsider this advisory, with a Japanese delegation present in the state and an Australian delegation due to arrive soon.

He stressed that there are no adverse situations in Assam and that all stakeholders, including the government, media, and the public need to work together to highlight this fact. “As the Chief Minister of Assam, I cannot influence other states. What I am doing is urging foreign nations to see Assam independently,” he said.

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Speaking about attracting tourists and investments, he said, “These travel advisories must be lifted. Simultaneously, we need to showcase our strengths, such as the availability of skilled human resources, and the peace and stability we have politically, economically, and in terms of law and order,”

The availability of land for large industries remains a challenge for the state, Sarma acknowledged, but the government is addressing this issue. “The state Cabinet will approve several SEZs tomorrow, and we hope we can resolve the land acquisition problem together,” he said.

Despite these challenges, the CM was confident that foreign investment will be secured and, once these issues are addressed, more investments will follow.

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Japan, Australia, Bhutan, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia have confirmed their participation as ‘partner countries’, while the Philippines, Finland, Iceland, Austria, and the Republic of Korea will be represented. Confirmation is still awaited from 14 other countries.