Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday asserted that Nagaland would derive several benefits from the B20 Conference as the State is strategically located which is proving helpful in developing Nagaland as a base for boosting links with the ASEAN countries in addition to Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Japan.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a 10-nation regional organisation made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Rio said this while addressing the media after the inaugural session of the G20 meet.

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Rio maintained that the trade potentiality of the State lies in its strength in agro and forest based, mining and minerals based and services-based industries such as tourism and information technology.

Mentioning that Nagaland is all set to benefit from the co-operation as North East and Bangladesh have close ties, Rio expressed his happiness that India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) led by Abdul Matlub Ahmad, has mounted a large business delegation from Bangladesh to this B20 conference. He said, this would also provide a window for interaction with the local entrepreneurs to strengthen the business ties and make a strong case for greater commercial activities across the borders.

Rio also said Nagaland will be glad for a potential tie-up in the area of tourism, IT, agriculture and infrastructure development. While, the participation of leading nations in these areas like Japan, Indonesia, the European nations, South American and the UAE in the B20 delegation will help the state and the local industry to push the economy to greater heights.

As part of the programme, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is also facilitating Business to Business and Business to Government meetings, informed Rio.

He said the visiting overseas business delegates is getting the opportunity to interact with the local industry during the B2B and with the Government in the B2G session for potential investment, collaboration, and tie-ups, saying this, Rio said over 100 B2B and B2G requests have been generated including request for interaction with government departments Tourism, Commerce and Industries, Agriculture, Horticulture, Healthcare and Food Processing.

Rio exuded confidence that this B20 Conference which has provided the platform for collaboration and partnerships will usher new opportunities for the people of Nagaland.

Read more: Nagaland has tremendous opportunities especially for those who come early: CM Rio

Kohima witnessed the convergence of 60 overseas delegates from 27 countries including delegates from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, United Kingdom and the United States.

The diplomatic delegation includes -Five Ambassador from Cuba, Iceland, Jamaica. Paraguay and Panama; one Deputy Head of Missions from Estonia and two Council Generals from Costa Rica and Germany. Focused Trade and Business delegations from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Iceland, Japan and UAE are participating at the B20 programme in Kohima.