Taga seeks ‘export oriented industrial park’ in Arunachal

NEW DELHI, Jan 10: Arunachal Pradesh Industries Minister Tamiyo Taga sought the Centre’s assistance for establishing “an export-oriented industrial park in Arunachal, which can provide infrastructure support to cane and bamboo-based industries through private entrepreneurship.”
Taga was speaking at the 4th meeting of the Trade Development and Promotion Council here on Thursday. The meeting was aimed at enhancing the Centre’s cooperation with the states and union territories to boost India’s exports.
Taga sought financial assistance for developing an “urban haat” in Itanagar; an incentive for capital subsidy from the Centre for promotion of pig farming; and a special export package for landlocked and underdeveloped states of the Himalayan region.
The minister apprised the meeting of the need to establish “a logistic hub in the state for storage, cold storage, grading, packaging, transportation/cargo and marketing of large cardamom and other agri-horti products.”
He also highlighted the need to establish “cluster-based industrial corridors along the Trans-Arunachal Highway, with state-of-the-art cold chain, processing and marketing infrastructure.”
Taga further requested the Centre to establish “interstate integrated domestic trade centres in feasible interstate boundary towns.”
Speaking on export promotion, the minister urged the Centre to restore the trade routes to Myanmar and the Tibet region of China through Arunachal, and pleaded with the union commerce ministry to “arrange the certification agency in respect of default organic products of the farmers of Arunachal.”
“Produces of Arunachal, like bamboo shoots, kiwi, cardamom, ginger, rubber, oranges, which have a good market in South Asian countries, are not getting expected market in mainland India and abroad for want of organic certification,” Taga said.
The minister called for establishing banking facilities with foreign exchange provisions in Nampong town, and at Pangsau Pass in Myanmar “as border trade under the Indo-Myanmar sector is the most feasible for the state.”
Highlighting the abundant natural resources of the state, Taga admitted that conversion of resources into commercially sustainable activities is yet to be achieved to the desired level in the state “which has been suffering from physiographical conditions.”
During the meeting, Taga also spoke on the Arunachal government’s trade policy to facilitate making trade infrastructure operational; the gaps in export infrastructure, including testing, certification, and streaming of regulatory processes; and the efforts of the state government to create basic infrastructure in the form of roads and bridges, and industrial infrastructure like power projects, industrial estates etc.
Taga was accompanied by Arunachal’s Commerce Secretary Onit Payang.