I have always believed that a New Year is a fresh departure leaving the mistakes of the past behind and carrying on the lessons learnt with oneself. I have more often than not tried to put that in practice as well. This New Year has indeed been a fresh departure for Assam. Myself and my able Cabinet colleagues used the month of January to showcase the potential of Assam to investors across the country and other parts of the world. We used the opportunity that Advantage Assam 2.0 is providing to us in terms of enticing the investor community to come, see and invest in Assam. Long known as one of the delights for tourists globally, the State also has the potential to be an investor’s paradise provided we put all the ecosystems in place. The upcoming Advantage Assam summit will address this. The prowess of the youth work force in Assam, their skills, both innate and trained, and the new-found peace across the State are magnet to attract the attention of the investors. Yes, we must also know what is our core competency. Chasing investors all over does not make sense. We must identify and leverage our natural advantages before competing. The semiconductor Assembly unit that Assam’s most trusted friends, the Tatas, are coming up with in Jagiroad in Morigaon district will be able to showcase the State’s unrealized potential. It will be the harbinger for more investments, like the electronic industry and other ancillary units around it, in the State, which, in turn, will boost the overall economy. This is just but one example of the domino effect that one can take advantage of in terms of industrialization.
My meetings with Indian and global investors all had one thing in common. Investors are impressed with the progress Assam is making in the last few years. Our GSDP, and growth rates are hidden to none. It is the investors who capture this momentum much before statistics have them in place. Industrialists have an uncanny knack of smelling destinations to invest. Their long-drawn experience of dealing with people, and investment ecosystems make them smart enough to sense opportunity and go for it. They are the ones who carry on the progress chart of any State or the country.
My Cabinet colleagues who also toiled extremely hard to reach out to the business and investors community have also reported impressions that are boosting our confidence that the forthcoming summit will be a game changer. I am waiting with bated breath for it to begin. Not that it will be an end in itself, but it will be a fresh departure, for a summit 3.0, and help us put in place an enabling environment where we can see investors lining up to be part of our growth trajectory. The seedlings have been put in place, it is time for the tree to grow.
As we wait to welcome investors through our competitive advantage in terms of commerce, we will also welcome them to our natural advantages in culture. The jhumoir dance that we are going to present on the day of Advantage Assam 2.0 will indeed advance Assam’s culture. Our brothers and sisters from the tea community, who have long helped in the progress Assam has made through its tea industry, will now unleash their cultural finesse. Nearly, 8000 performers will display this folk dance that have reverberated across the tea gardens of Assam. I wonder, at times, is it the dance and the happiness it indicates that go on to make Assam tea among the most cherished beverages around the world or is the other way? Youths, from the tea community, across the State will converge in Guwahati, in numbers, and tell to the world “Come, see Assam, and join us in our happiness journey”.
This New Year was also a fresh beginning for the people of Assam, and our Government. For the first time ever, we unfurled the Republic Day flag in another city. When I did the honours in Dibrugarh, I knew that the city is all poised to become a capital city in its own rights. Long known for its industrial prowess, this University town has almost everything going for it. We have started here with the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to begin with but in the next few years, we will make it the second capital of Assam to serve a vast population across nine districts of what we call upper Assam. This will naturally have advantages and spur progress. A beautiful city dotted with tea gardens, and a disposable income that could be the envy of many, I believe the people of Assam deserve Dibrugarh as their second capital. While inaugurating infrastructure projects here during my last visit, I promised the people here that this is just the beginning, the journey of progress will continue…
