Rio address Precursor to 1st Nagaland CSR & Investment Conclave 2022
Confirms Union Finance Minister’s visit on a later date convenient to her
Kohima, July 4 (MTNews): Addressing CEOs and company leaders at the Precursor to the 1st Nagaland CSR & Investment Conclave 2022 held at State Banquet Hall, Kohima today, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the state government wants the companies to have their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) running successfully in Nagaland and integrate local businesses with the national supply chains. He said CSR coupled with private investments would serve as an important supplement to Government spending and maximize the impact of interventions in critical development sectors.
The Chief Minister said the government wants companies to be in Nagaland for the long term. Rio said Nagaland has been unable to attract sufficient attention of companies to take up sufficient projects from their CSR obligations in Nagaland. He said, out of the estimated 1.25 lakh crore rupees which companies have spent as part of their mandatory CSR over the last seven years, a miniscule 0.006 per cent has been reportedly spent in Nagaland. He expressed optimism that much more can be dedicated by companies for Nagaland.
Rio said challenges like remoteness and geographical terrain makes it challenging for ensuring last mile public service delivery, particularly in health and education in the state. He said balancing sustainability and development concerns is another area of challenge. He called upon Companies to help in these areas of challenge by designing, developing and delivering innovative solutions with the use of advanced technology.
Rio said some excellent CSR projects are already being implemented in the state in the areas of health and education, such as provisioning of mobile medical units. He said such successful interventions at local level can be replicated on a larger scale across the entire State with funding from potential CSR partners. Rio urged the representatives of companies and other corporate entities to peruse the state government’s draft shelf of projects as may be aligned to their CSR priorities and hoped that this would result in tangible CSR commitments.
Rio said Nagaland by virtue of its unique attributes, natural and human resources has an enormous investment potential which remains untapped. He said Nagaland is very peaceful with much lesser crime than other parts of the country and that law and order should not be an issue for investors. In terms of policy, Rio said government is prioritizing on developing a facilitative and investor-friendly eco-system. He said government is working on introducing a modern land law to make it easier for businesses to set-up their units.
Rio also placed on record the support received from the Union Finance Minister and officials of the Ministries and departments headed by her which expanded the scope of the conclave. Rio also informed that the union finance minister has assured that she would come at a later date convenient to her. He also hoped this curtain raiser event would encourage the stakeholders to develop meaningful and long-term partnership with the State in its growth. (With AIR inputs)