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Look East Policy Potentialities for North Eastern Region

2011; World Wide Journals; Volume: 4; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.15373/2249555x/may2014/95

2249-555X

Jayanta Gogoi,

Indian Economic and Social Development

North Eastern Region (NER) shares more than 98 percent of international border with the countries viz., Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Nepal. In order to pave the way for international trade between NE region and the South East Asian Countries the Government of India announced the “Look East Policy” in early 1990’s. This region is in expected to be most important beneficiary due to its geographical location and proximity to the neighbouring countries. The present study will highlight the potentialities of Look East policy and export scenario of NER with the Asian neighbouring countries. Introduction The North Eastern Region (NER) comprises of eight states vig; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The region shares two percent of border with the mainland of the country and more than 98 percent is linked with international border i.e. Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Nepal. Due to its geographical location and proximity to the neighbouring countries, the NER has natural trading advantages. This region has wide scope of generating economic activities through the interaction with their neighbouring countries. The Government of India announced the “Look East Policy” in the early 1990 to pave the way for international trade between NE states and the South East Asian Countries. The look East policy generated considerable optimism in the Northeast region of the country which had persistently lagged behind the rest of India in the pace of economic development ever since the time of independence (Bezbaruah 2010). North East Region is the “Gate way to South east Asia” and Look East Policy is viewed as especially favourable for boosting trade between North East India and the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Trade history is witness that the neighbouring countries of this region had been the traditional markets for a variety of goods and services produced by the North East before its traditional link were disrupted by the partition in 1947 (Mukherjee 1992). Objectives of the study The main objectives of this study are : i) To study the potentialities of look East Policy for the economic development of this region. ii) To examine the export scenario of NER with the Asian neighbouring countries. Methodology The information collected for the purpose of this study is mainly based on secondary sources. Secondary information have been collected from the office of the commissioner of customers, shilling, Ministry of commerce and industry, Ministry of Tourism, official documents, rules and regulations of central government and respective state governments. Information are also collected from various export promoting organizations, news papers and magazines. Look East Policy and Trade Opportunities The Look East Policy (LEP) initiated by Central Government helps to expand the trade relationship of India with the eastern countries rapidly. The South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) was set up on 8th December 1985 to promote economic co-operation among the South Asian Countries. SAARC has a major landmark in the political and economic history of NER as this region has trade relationship with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and even Pakistan. The South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) came into force on 7th December 1995 after being ratified by all constituent members just 10 years after establishment of SAARC. This was the first ever attempt of trade liberalisation among the member countries. SAARC also initiated duty free trade under the aegis of SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area ), culminating in the preferential trading arrangements by completely dismantling tariff and non-tariff from the movement of goods across member countries. The SAFTA Agreement was signed on 6th January 2004 during the twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad, Pakistan. In a bid to further enhance economic tie with eastern neighbours, India has been actively participating in the regional formation such as BIMSTECBangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri-Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation. In the Joint Declaration issued after the BIMSTEC Summit held at Bangkok in July 2004, it was agreed that the grouping would henceforth be known as bay of Bengal initiative for Multi sectoral Technical and Economic cooperation. India gained a foot hold in the ASEAN region after ASEAN ( Association of South East Asian Nations ) and its partners country recognized India’s membership in the ASEAN Regional Forum. India Trade with ASEAN region has had a rising trend. The composition of the Indo-ASEAS trade has also undergone change from predominance of primary products to manufacturers. In the last decade, India’s trade ties with china have also had an upward trend. The 9th World Trade organisation of Ministerial Conference, held in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013, ministers adopted the ‘Bali Package’ a series of decisions aimed at streamlining trade, allowing developing countries more options for providing food security, boosting least developed countries trade and helping development more generally. No doubt, it is encouraging news for the developing Asian Countries like India. The research studies of pioneering organisation in India viz., Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT); New Delhi, National Council of Applied and Economic Research (NCAER); New Delhi, Federation of Indian Export organisation (FIEO); Kolkata, Tata Consultancy services (TCS); Kolkata, Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank ), Kolkata, confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of commerce and Industry (FICCI), Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE); Guwahati, North Eastern Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NECCI); Guwahati and Federation of Industries and commerce in NE Region (FINER); Guwahati have listed out a large number of Potential items for export from North East India. The FIEO, Kolkata has identified the following items exportable from this region.