Chandigarh, March 27, 2022: Leading industrial body ASSOCHAM will play a proactive role in partnership with the state governments to accelerate the pace of economic development of the northern region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UTs of Chandigarh, J&K and Ladakh. A decision to this effect was taken at the first meeting of the North Region Development Council (NRDC) held here at Hotel Hyatt on Saturday.
“The meeting has unanimously decided that ASSOCHAM should play a proactive role in the north region’s accelerated economic development. We will soon share our blueprint with the respective state government to decide the future course of action. As Covid-19 pandemic has paused and almost controlled thanks to massive vaccination drive, we need to focus on reviving the economy,” said Amrit Sagar Mittal, Chairman, ASSOCHAM, NRDC, and Vice Chairman, International Tractors Ltd, while interacting with media persons.
Mittal said that one district, one product (ODOP), farm tourism and small enterprises are the areas of focus as we engage ourselves in the build back process in the new normal.
“ODOP aims at identifying an exclusive product or service from a district and promoting that so that small enterprises which are the backbone of the economy get benefited and are not sidelined. We will also work on removal of bottlenecks in freight movement as the region is a landlocked one and the major transportation of goods is via the land route. Issues need to be addressed here,” added Mittal.
Kulwin Seehra, Chairman, Punjab State Development Council & North Regional Council for MSMEs Development, ASSOCHAM and Executive Director, GNA Group, said that MSMEs have a special place in the economy of the region and that of the country. “MSMEs were hit hard during Covid-19 pandemic and due to disruptions caused by lockdowns. They have been provided several incentives but a lot still needs to be done. We will act as a fulcrum between MSMEs and the governments so that glitches and concerns are well addressed in larger interests of the region’s economy,” added Seehra.
Vijay Sharma, Chairman, Haryana State Development Council and Director, Jindal Stainless, said that today’s meeting laid a special emphasis on ASSOCHAM becoming an active partner with the governments of States and UTs to give a fillip to the region’s industry and economy. “In partnership with them, we will organize events, seminars, webinars, trade fairs, B2B and B2C meetings to increase the business potential in different States and UTs. I am happy that the 2nd edition of Haryana MSME SAMVAAD is being held on May 21 in person’’he said.
Manik Batra, Chairman, J&K Council said, "With the launch of the New Central Sector Scheme, J&K is emerging as the new hub for investment, we are focusing on getting more investment in Jammu and Kashmir, which will not only boost the economy of the UT, but will also generate employment for the youth of J&K,"
Jitender Sodhi, Chairman, HP state Development Council said that ASSOCHAM will also help the governments in promoting policies related to trade and industry and apprise them about the problems being faced by the industries. “In the meeting, we discussed a whole lot of issues including policy advocacy matters, schemes of Central and state governments to promote industries, labour welfare, education of their children, safety of women at work place,” he said.
Talking about the action plan for the year 2022, Vivek Atray, Chairman, North Regional Council for Policy Advocacy and former Director, Industries, Government of Haryana, said that the past couple of years were quite tough and hence most of activities were organized online but during the current year, a number of high-end activities are lined up. “The idea is to galvanize ourselves and other stakeholders to infuse new vigour and momentum in the economy of the region,” he said.
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