WB CM attends the India-Bhutan Business Conclave at Thimphu in Bhutan

WB CM attends the India-Bhutan Business Conclave at Thimphu in Bhutan

Posted on October 5, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee today attended the India-Bhutan Business Conclave at Thimphu in Bhutan, during the first day of her visit to the country.

Present at the Conclave were the Ambassador of India in Bhutan and the Hon’ble Minister of Economic Affairs, Bhutan Government among many other dignitaries.

Ambassador of India in Bhutan hailed the visit by the West Bengal Chief Minister in Bhutan as historic. He said that the GDP growth rate of Bengal is well over 10%, higher than the National GDP.

The Hon’ble Minister of Economic Affairs, Government of Bhutan addressed the West Bengal Chief Minister as Didi and said that he was extremely happy to have her in Bhutan. He said that Didi has endeared herself to the people of Bhutan and is popular for her simplicity & humility.

The West Bengal Chief Minister started her address at India-Bhutan Business Conclave by greeting the audience in Dzongkha language. She said that Bhutan is a beautiful country, the air being fresh and the people humble and simple.

The West Bengal Chief Minister said that she was happy to know that the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan had studied in Dr Graham’s Homes in Bengal.

She urged people of Bhutan to consider Bengal as their sweet home and said that the Bhutanese people were her brothers and sisters. She said that Bengal will partner with Bhutan and will do business with the country.

The West Bengal Chief Minister informed that she has requested the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan to make Andal a stoppage for Bhutan Air and the West Bengal Government will give tax free fuel.

Bengal is the gateway to North East and other Asian countries like Singapore. There can be a partnership in education, culture, the WB CM said. She said that there can be partnerships in agro industry, food processing, MSME.

The WB CM said that out of 1.3 lakh tourists to Bhutan, 68,000 are Indians. She informed that the Bengal Govt has started LTC programme for Govt employees to visit Bhutan. The West Bengal Chief Minister urged that a tourism corridor be started. Buddhist circuits can be developed, she suggested.

The West Bengal Chief Minister informed that a Business Corridor involving Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal has been proposed and requested the four countries to sign the memorandum in Bengal. She informed that she had invited the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan and the Hon’ble Minister of Economic Affairs to attend the North Bengal Business Conclave. She also proposed that the Government of Bhutan and Bengal set up a steering committee to promote industry and businesses.

Market is ready, business is ready, intention is clear, now a decision must be made, said the West Bengal Chief Minister.

WB CM meets Hon’ble PM of Bhutan

Posted on October 5, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

On the first day of her visit to Bhutan, West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee visited the Parliament House of Bhutan and had a meeting with the Hon’ble Prime Minister of the country.

After the meeting, a joint press conference was addressed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan and the West Bengal Chief Minister.

At the press conference, the West Bengal Chief Minister said that she was honoured that His Holiness King of Bhutan had invited her to visit the country. She said that there was a long discussion between them regarding different sectors like education and transport. An agreement with the Government of Bhutan regarding transport will be signed soon, the Chief Minister informed and said that she had made a request that the agreement may be signed in Bengal. The West Bengal Chief Minister informed that she had invited the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan to attend the North Bengal Business Conclave.

The Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan in his speech said that The record of the West Bengal Chief Minister for itself. From her forming a party to coming to power, she played a big role in solving Indo-Bangla border issue, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan said.

He said that from tourism to industry, there is lot of scope for cooperation between India and Bhutan and informed that the WB CM has already sanctioned a 2nd gateway to Phuentsholing via Boubazar in Jaigaon. He said that the WB CM has committed to facilitating the Pasakha-Hasimara rail link. After the West Bengal Chief Minister’s visit, he was certain that tourism ties will flourish, he said.

Click on the following link to see the video of WB CM addressing a joint press conference with the Hon. Prime Minister of Bhutan:
https://www.facebook.com/AITCofficial/videos/990053177700853/

WB CM reaches Bhutan for a 5-day visit

Posted on October 5, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached Paro airport in Bhutan on a five-day tour to neighbouring country from morning.

Ministers of Bhutan Government welcomed WB CM at Paro airpor.

After reaching the capital Thimpu, she is scheduled to attend a business conclave and have meetings with Bhutan Prime Minister Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay and Minister of Economic Affairs Lyonpo Norbu Wangchuk.

A 15-member delegation including chief secretary, and other secretaries would be travelling along with the Chief Minister.

On October 6, the Chief Minister would have a meeting with the HE the King of Bhutan.

WB CM arrives at Paro airport in Bhutan

The itinerary includes meeting with different ministers and government officials of Bhutan and sightseeing including a visit to the Royal Textile Museum.

A Bengali food festival is also planned at Hotel Taj Tashi during her tour.

The district magistrates of Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, which share border with Bhutan, would also be part of the visiting delegation.

WB CM suggests Dedicated Business Corridor to boost up international trade

Posted on July 16, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government is all set to send suggestions to the Centre to set up a Dedicated Business Corridor for increasing trade relations with the neighboring countries , at the nation’s international borders.

The West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee said that in order to realize the nation’s Look East Policy, it is necessary to set up the Dedicated Business Corridor. The State Government is sending the suggestions through the State’s Chief Secretary.

The West Bengal Chief Minister said the right steps must be taken to make the Look East Policy a reality. If the suggested Business Corridor is set up, the economy and the business scenario of the whole north Bengal will change, she said.

The suggested Business Corridor will string together Jaigaon in Indo-Bhutan border, Panitanki in Indo-Nepal border, Fulbari-Changrabandha, Pentrapole, Gede and Hili in Indo-Bangladesh border.

The image is representative

ADB loan push for state corridor

Posted on June 10, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Mamata Banerjee government has got another big boost before the chief minister’s London visit on July.

The screening committee of the Department of Economic Affairs under the union Finance Ministry has cleared loan approval of receiving $500 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to the West Bengal government for setting up the 231 km long North South corridor from East Midnapore to Murshidabad that will cross six districts and move parallel to NH-34.

This is the highest amount of ADB loan granted for any ADB-assisted single project in the country. The total cost of the project, to be executed by the West Bengal Highway Development Corporation Limited (WBHDCL) is estimated as Rs 4,696 crore.

The corridor would help to remove the critical bottlenecks in freight movement not only from the northern parts of the state and north eastern states of the country but also from the neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Nepal to Haldia and Paradeep.

About the corridor

According to the plan, the corridor will run across six districts on the western side of the Ganges parallel to NH-34 and would serve at least 40% of the total population of the state, connecting a 231 km stretch from Mechogram near Haldia in East Midnapore to Morgram near Jangipur in Murshidabad.

The corridor will connect the important national highways of NH-6, NH-2, NH-60 and NH-34. The corridor will also reduce travel distance of Morgramm – Haldia port for about 60 km and will reduce about three hours of travel time in comparison to NH-34.

Kharagpur and the south west part of the country will get shorter connectivity to north east in addition to the faster connectivity to Haldia from states like Bihar, Jharkhand and the north eastern states along with Nepal and Bhutan.

The story was originally published in The Times of India on 10 June, 2015