Imphal, October 18: The Chief Minister O Ibobi today said the seminar on Indo-Myanmar border trade is an event which has been accorded the highest priority by the Govt of India and has special and particular relevance for Manipur being the border State with Myanmar and the ASEAN region as a whole.

Manipur has the location advantage of sharing major portion of the International border with Myanmar.

The proposed Trans-Asian Highway will surely help the business ventures to cater to foreign market in the South-East Asian countries as well as source raw materials which are available in abundance in this region he said.

The Govt of India has over the years been making efforts in the overall integration and development of the North East region through special constitutional arrangement and policy frame-work.

Special effort are currently under way for upgrading the physical infrastructure which will ensure better connectivity with the national economy.

As this infrastructure gets linked to the ASEAN region to Myanmar, the untapped export potential of the North East region can also be exploited.

Manipur has a population of 23.88 lakhs as per Census of 2001.It also has one of the highest literacy percentage which is estimated at 68.8%.This obviously creates expectations amongst the youth for employment opportunities particularly in the form of while coloured jobs.

It is not possible for the State Government to continue to provide significant additional employment in the government sector.

There is, therefore, need to identify employment opportunities through rapid development, diversification and commercialization of other sector like agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, poultry, animal husbandry, forest as well as tourism.

Upgradation of the physical infrastructure which is also an urgent requirement will also create secondary employment besides improving the overall efficiency of the state's economy he added.

The initiative taken by the government for giving impetus to Indo-Myanmar and Indo-ASEAN economic links provides the future of Manipur with a golden opportunity for rapid economic growth and the potential for creating substantial employment he added.

Similarly, the initiative taken by the centre in collaboration with ASEAN countries to improve the road connectivity through Myanmar and thereby open the possibility of commercial interaction through surface network will go a long way in bringing this dream a reality he said.

The first rally jointly organized by Ministry of External Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industries in association with ASEAN secretariat is an outcome of the address by the Prime Minister at the ASEAN India summit at Bali on 8-10-2003 he said.

The key objective is to demonstrate the proximity of India with ASEAN countries, create public awareness of India- ASEAN relations, promote connectivity, especially road transport, enhance trade, investment, tourism and people to people links between India and ASEAN countries he said.

He said the seminar will definitely sort out the problems for promotion of export import trade in the state.

We should give maximum cooperation he said.

Such a rally will help in bringing peace, better understanding and economic development he said.

The Industries minister N Mangi said unemployment is a problem.

Unemployment leads to insurgency he said.

We should try to expand foreign trade he added.

The government is looking into the matter.

The seminar on border trade is timely he said.

Interaction with those who want to participate in the seminar to be held at Mandalay, Myanmar was also held.

Discussions on trade with Myanmar were done the whole day in which large numbers of people participated.

About 60 persons have applied for permission to take part in the seminar at Mandalay on border trade.

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