Shillong, Jun 3: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said he will present a roadmap for positioning the Northeast as a single tourism destination at the North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary, stressing the need for collective branding and regional cooperation to unlock the sector’s full potential.
Sangma, who chairs the high-level task force on tourism for the Northeast region, said the report will focus on how the eight states can market themselves collectively and leverage their combined strengths to emerge as a major tourism destination.
“We will be talking about how the Northeast as a whole can represent itself as a destination or as a potential market for tourism, not just the states on their own, but the region as a whole,” he told reporters ahead of the NEC plenary session scheduled for Thursday.
The chief minister said the annual NEC meeting, to be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will bring together all chief ministers and governors of the northeastern states for discussions on key regional development issues.
Shah is expected to arrive in Shillong on Wednesday evening to chair the plenary session, while senior leaders from across the region are on their way to the state capital here.
Sangma said the meeting would provide an opportunity for extensive consultations on the recommendations submitted by various sectoral task forces constituted by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) under the leadership of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
According to him, task forces have been set up for sectors such as tourism, youth development, trade and infrastructure, with each committee chaired by a chief minister and comprising representatives from other northeastern states.
“Scindia has been very proactive. Different states have worked together through these task forces to come up with recommendations for the development of the region,” Sangma said.
He said the primary focus of Thursday’s deliberations would be to review the reports submitted by the task forces and chart out mechanisms for implementing their recommendations.
“I expect that we will be having large consultations and participation regarding major sectors. The main focus will be to see how the reports of the different task forces can be implemented in the days to come,” he said.
Apart from discussions on the task force recommendations, other issues concerning the development of the Northeast are also expected to be taken up during the plenary session, Sangma added.
The chief minister also said Meghalaya is preparing to host a series of visits by senior Union ministers in the coming days. Union Health Minister JP Nadda is expected to visit Shillong on June 5, while Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to visit the state later this month. (PTI)
