Taking Advantage Assam 2.0 to a global stage, Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and other officials of the State Government embarked on a 5-day trip to two prime Asian nations, South Korea & Japan, on January 19 where he met business magnates, investors, industry leaders and senior government officials. On January 20, the Chief Minister started his engagements with a meeting with over 100 business leaders of Korea, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea where he exhorted the leaders to explore avenues of investment in Assam and invited a Korean delegation to participate in the mega summit.
He also met with a delegation of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), led by their president, Kang Kyungsung and discussed the shared growth in the areas of trade, commerce, industry and skilling between the State of Assam and Korea. During his conversation with a delegation of The Korea Automobile Parts Industry Promotion Foundation, the Chief Minister pitched Assam’s strategic location and the opportunities of the $100 billion Indian automobile industry and the nearby South East Asia region and further assured unstinted support to the industry if they set up their base in Assam.
On the final day of his first leg of International Roadshow in South Korea for Advantage Assam 2.0, the Chief Minister held a series of extensive meetings with various stakeholders and focused on the fact that South Korea being a major player in the semiconductor industry, their expertise will be fruitful in taking forward Assam’s pursuit of creating an all-encompassing semiconductor ecosystem. In separate conversations with Vice President of SK Hynix, Dr Joon Choi and CEO of Seoul Viosys, Lee Young Joo, two major semiconductor firms, Dr. Sarma stressed the strong policy support of Government of Assam for the sector and initiatives like a dedicated township and semiconductor cluster to boost the industry. He also engaged in conversations with the Minister of SME and Startups, Government of the Republic of Korea Oh Youngju, to discuss avenues of collaboration between entrepreneurs and industries of Assam and Korea. He met the Vice President of GS Group, Young Ha Ryu, to explore partnerships in the renewable energy sector to fulfil Assam’s goal of a 3,000 MW clean energy regime by 2030.
On the sideline, he also visited the Startup Campus in Pangyo Techno Valley, dubbed as Korea’s Silicon Valley in Seoul and explored the innovations of Korean startups from diverse fields of IT, biotech, etc. Impressed by the ecosystem in the Techno Valley, the Chief Minister expressed his intention to forge collaboration between entrepreneurs and start-ups of Assam and the Techno Valley and an agreement will soon be reached on this.
Taking the Advantage Assam 2.0 Investment and Infrastructure Summit to Japan, the Chief Minister met over 160 Japanese business leaders in Tokyo. In two separate meetings with Japan’s State Minister of Justice, Komura Masahiro, and Japan’s State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Furukawa Yasushi, in Tokyo, discussions were held on the joint efforts to develop Assam’s tourism sector and the State’s plans to dedicate an exclusive Japanese industrial estate.
In the meeting with CEO of Kameda Seika, Lekh Raj Juneja, the Chief Minister invited him to take advantage of Assam’s mature food processing sector.
The Chief Minister visited Micron Memory Plant in Hiroshima, one of the major semiconductor players globally, to take stock of their operations and had an interaction with its Vice President Joshua Lee. He invited the group to explore Assam’s Electronic City in Jagiroad and be a part of the upcoming semiconductor ecosystem there.
In Osaka, Advantage Assam 2.0 Roadshow was organised, which was attended by over 80 business leaders, “The State’s GDP surged from $29 billion in 2013-14 to $68.7 billion in 2023-24, with an impressive annual growth rate of 12.4% making Assam a beacon of peace and development. A $12 billion infrastructure upgradation plan is on the anvil in the State and a historic $4 billion in private investments has been secured in 2024. With a simple, effective and customised policy regime in place, investors can have their bases up and running in the shortest possible time with the State’s assurance of providing all infrastructure and other facilities to supplement their efforts,” the Chief Minister said.
Extending a warm welcome to all leaders to join the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit in February, the Chief Minister held a meeting with Executive Officer and Head of India business of Kansai Paints, Pravin Chaudhuri and invited him to explore opportunities in Assam’s rapidly growing market. He also met founder and CEO of Enrission India Capital Yusuke Kakimoto which nurtures startups in collaboration with IITs and urged the group to explore Assam’s startup ecosystem and train the founders.
On the last day of his trip, the Chief Minister met Takeshi Okubo from Tokyo Electron, a leading player in the semiconductor ecosystem whose cutting-edge machines are used to develop chips. Later, he had an intense discussion with the Vice President and Executive Officer of Yokogawa Electric Corporation Yoshiaki Asakura about their current operations in Assam at Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and Indian Oil and encouraged them to expand operations to supplement Assam’s robust energy sector.
In the detailed discussion with CEO of Mizuho Securities India Takao Hosoya, the Chief Minister requested him to explore avenues of facilitating credit linkages for Indian companies and facilitating Japanese investments in Assam’s growing marketplace. In a separate engagement with Terutoshi Hamano from Toyota Motor Corporation, the group was urged to set up an automobile ancillary unit in the State given the robust connectivity in Assam with national and international markets and also asked them to expand Skill Centres from existing two to more institutions of the State.
While interacting with the Senior Vice President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Hara Shohei, support to ongoing projects in the State and in forging a partnership among JICA, JETRO and Government of Assam to realise the plans of the Japanese Industrial Park in the State were discussed.
Before departing from Japan, the Chief Minister thanked the Government and people of Japan for the amazing hospitality, officials of Indian Embassy for facilitating key meetings with industry leaders and Japanese business leaders for their enthusiastic response for the upcoming Advantage Assam 2.0 Summit. He has expressed confidence in having a sizable Japanese delegation and investment to Assam in the upcoming summit.
The Chief Minister met more than 160 business leaders and over 5 ministers of the Japanese Government during his whirlwind visit.
