Myanmar-leg of BCIM Car rally flagged off from Kangla
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 27 2013:
The Myanmar-leg of the cross-country BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) Car Rally, 2013 being organized by Confederation of Indian Industry under the aegis of Government of India, which kicked started from Kolkata on February 22, was flagged off by Chief Minister O Ibobi today from the historic Kangla Fort today.
After covering its Bangladesh-leg, the car rally arrived at Imphal through Imphal-Silchar Road last evening.
The 12-day rally would culminate at Kunming in Yunnan Province of China on March 5 .
Starting from Kolkata on February 22, the BCIM Rallyists in 20 cars have already crossed through Jessore, Dhaka and Sylhet in Bangladesh before coming to Imphal via Karimganj and Silchar in Assam on its way to Myanmar.
The car rally is being sponsored by Tata Motors, ONGC and Autocar, and supported by the Governments of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.
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Addressing at the flag-off ceremony, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh expressed hope that the BCIM Car Rally would bring the people living in the BCIM countries closer along with reviving the historical ties and trade links.
Stressing on the need and importance of inter-dependence among the people towards realization of their dreams for development in the region, the Chief Minister suggested that restriction in the movement of goods, services and people of the four countries needs to be eased along with opening the available channels of transport and communication.
"We see lot of similarities in our culture and we are keen to improve connectivity with our neighbor countries and the day will not be far when people can move freely across over borders without any restrictions", Ibobi stated, adding that as a first step towards easing restrictions, Visa on arrival at Moreh for the Myanmarese Nationals coming to avail health care facilities in India has been approved by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
"We are also looking forward to opening up of road and rail passages to Bangladesh through Tripura so that our goods can be exported to other countries by using the ports of Bangladesh," the Chief Minister observed.
Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, who was also present on the occasion, wished the Rally a grand success.
Also present at the flag-Off ceremony at Kangla Fort were Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly Th Lokeshwar; other Cabinet Minister, MLAs, Principal Secretary of Commerce & Industries O Nabakishore, Regional Director of CII Eastern Region Saugat Mukherjee and other top civil and police officials of the State Government.
The next stop of the 3028-km BCIM rally is Kalay in Myanmar before heading towards Mandalay, Ruili and then onwards to Tengchong, Dali and Kunming in China where it would be flagged in on March 5 .