Thursday, October 04, 2007

Dr. Chamling calls for foreign investment


GANGTOK, Oct. 3: Sikkim chief minister Mr Pawan Chamling has requested the international investors to invest in Sikkim in the fields of tourism, education, healthcare, hydel power, floriculture, information technology and capacity building."North-East region has a great potential and during the 11th Five Year Plan, the Centre will be having special schemes for the speedy development in the North-East," Mr Chamling said at the recently concluded North-East India Investment Conference in New York. "Sikkim is the most peaceful border state in India. It maintains perfect cultural blend of ethnic communities in a single entity," the CM, said at the conference.He added: "The Government of India is providing both traditional and non traditional courses like mountain ecology, border management, biotechnology, military sciences, disaster management, migration, development communication, biodiversity, natural resources management and hydrology, human security and environment. We also invite the American educational institutions to come forward to collaborate with the upcoming Central University in Sikkim on mutually benefiting terms. Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairperson of Planning Commission who inaugurated the conference in New York, said: "I hope that this investment conference would boost the economy of the North-East region. The government of India has laid emphasis on development of this region. The government is planning to take major initiatives for the development of North East in the 11th Five Year Plan, especially in the education, healthcare and infrastructure sectors."