| The president of the organisation, Sanjay Sethi, said apart from having talks with small unit-holders, artisans, and associations of handicrafts, handlooms, and hotels, the organisation would try to build partnerships with the business community in the valley. |
| Talking about the survey "What ails the Kashmir economy", Sethi said despite being endowed with natural wealth, Kashmir lagged behind. |
| Sethi said in fostering public-private investment and partnerships lay the answer to the unemployment problem in Kashmiri, which is one of the major factors hampering economic progress. |
| Public-private partnerships will not only help in easing some bottlenecks but also make the economy resurgent. |
| To bring Kashmir on the global business platform, the Mandal suggested making the state as a free trade zone. |
| Sethi said, 'When Hongkong, Singapore and Malta island of European Union can become free trade zones, why not Kashmir should gain an advantage by giving the proposal a kick and be a forerunner in the race towards both internal and external liberalization?" |
| Sethi also called for maximizing increase of agricultural production in Kashmir as the sector is most promising to sustain the glut required for food processing industry. |
| 'To make food processing industry successful in the valley, crop diversification, supplementation of extension programmes and scientific applications on land is the only panacea', he said, adding that the Mandal is conducting a workshop in silicon city Hyderabad where focus area of discussion would be Tourism in Kashmir'. |
| Sethi said that Jammu and Kashmir has the best industrial policy in the country that affords greatest incentives and hence lures investors to the state. Since Jammu already has investment pouring in due to location advantage and comparatively peaceful milieu. |
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