ITANAGAR, Jan 30: The first ever two-day Arunachal Pradesh Social Entrepreneurship Meet (APSEM) 2020 was inaugurated today by Chief Minister Pema Khandu here at the DK Auditorium of State Legislative Assembly.
The meet is an initiative by GoAP to usher an environment of social innovation and entrepreneurship in state. Khandu while lauding the initiative as the first ever to be conceptualized and held by any state in the country, said the meet should be a turning point for Arunachal Pradesh. “This should kick-start the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve a 5 trillion dollar economy in coming years,” he said, adding that it will act as a platform to connect all start-ups across the country working in social sectors to promote sustainable development. CM asserted that while development on all fronts is essential, social sectors like health and education should also be taken care of. “This is the best platform for our local entrepreneurs to get, share and innovate new ideas and shape the future of Arunachal,” he said, assuring that state government will not tolerate red-tapism and facilitate entrepreneurs to successfully implement projects. State government is ready to go that extra mile in enabling a conducive atmosphere for entrepreneurships and investments, he reiterated.  “Please come forward and convert your ideas into something which you would be proud of and in the process help the state develop,” he appealed, also reminding that development should not be at the cost of environment and nature. He categorically cited agriculture, horticulture, tourism and textiles and handicrafts sectors which need to be leveraged for passing benefits to the farmers, weavers, artisans, tour guides etc. “I would urge the entrepreneurs to find solutions to the problems we face in agriculture and allied sectors particularly demand aggregation and poor market linkages,” he said. 
He informed that as a step in this direction, state government is encouraging creation of Farmers Producers’ Organizations (FPOs), livestock cooperatives, fisheries and sericulture cooperatives etc, under the Chief Minister’s Krishi Samuh Yojana and linking them with markets to ensure that interests of farmers are protected. “Social entrepreneurs can play a huge role to supplement these efforts in doubling the income of our farmers by 2022,” he observed.  He also informed about the upcoming Mega Food Park at Banderdewa, which he pointed would provide a fillip to food processing sector in state. In this regard he requested the budding entrepreneurs to invest in the agri-tech sector which will also boost crop productivity in the state. “We have placed a lot of emphasis on attracting investment in Arunachal Pradesh through creation of conducive business environment for entrepreneurs and industries and our cabinet has recently approved the Arunachal Pradesh Industrial and Investment Policy, which aims at incentivizing entrepreneurs along with providing all necessary handholding for investing in  state,” Khandu revealed.

For the Social Innovation Competition, altogether 111 applications were received from all over India under two categories- ‘Enterprise’ for registered social enterprise and ‘Ideation’ for aspiring entrepreneurs with tested ideas. Enterprises representing different states in sectors like health tech, education and skill development, handicrafts and textiles, tourism and hospitality, agriculture, food processing and forestry and renewable and clean energy are attending the meet.
The events in APSEM 2020 include a Social Innovation Competition aimed towards attracting the best ideas and early stage enterprises in the country. Further, there will be a panel discussion by eminent experts from various backgrounds on topics of social innovation and entrepreneurship. CMO 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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