Meghalaya’s Shillong Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said he would present a roadmap to position the Northeast as a single tourism destination at the North East Assembly plenary session, stressing the need for collective branding and regional collaboration to unlock the full potential of the sector.
Sangma, who chairs the High-Level Task Force on Tourism in the North East, said the report will focus on how the eight states can collectively market themselves and leverage their common strengths to emerge as major tourism destinations.
“We will talk about how the Northeast region as a whole can position itself as a destination or a potential market for tourism, not just the states individually, but the region as a whole,” he told reporters ahead of the NEC plenary session scheduled for Thursday.
The annual meeting of the National Election Commission, which will be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will bring together all chief ministers and governors of northeastern states for discussions on key regional development issues, the Prime Minister said.
Shah is expected to arrive in Shillong on Wednesday evening to chair the plenary session, while senior leaders from across the region head to the state capital here.
Sangma said the meeting would provide an opportunity to hold extensive consultations on the recommendations made by various sectoral task forces constituted by the Northeast Region Development Ministry led by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
According to him, task forces have been established for sectors such as tourism, youth development, trade and infrastructure, and each committee is headed by the Prime Minister and includes representatives from other North-East states.
“Scindia has been very proactive. Different countries have worked together through these task forces to come up with recommendations for the development of the region,” Sangma said.
He said that the primary focus of Thursday’s deliberations will be on reviewing the reports submitted by the working groups and developing mechanisms to implement their recommendations.
“I expect that we will have broad consultations and engagement regarding key sectors. The main focus will be to see how the reports of the various task forces will be implemented in the coming days,” he said.
Sangma added that apart from discussions on the recommendations of the task force, other issues related to the development of the North East are also expected to be taken up during the plenary session.
The Prime Minister also said that Meghalaya is gearing up 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.
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