Two high-powered official and trade delegations from the United States and Bangladesh visited Assam and Meghalaya this month on a business-exploratory trip and also to check whether the law and order situation in the region was conducive to establishing trade relations.
The American team, headed by the U S Consul General in Calcutta, Cheryl J.Sim, said the proximity of Assam and the other north-eastern states to some of the fastest growing economic centres in Southeast Asia, like Mandalay in Myanmar, was being considered favourably by potential investors from their country.
They said the northeast offers opportunity for investment in sectors like power and oil, but stressed the need for aggressive marketing so that potential areas for foreign investment are made known to the outside world.
The US officials said three American oil companies and a power company had expressed interest in investing in Assam last year. The oil companies, they said, were interested in exploration and development of the existing oil wells in the state but had to shift their attention to Gujarat and the Cauvery basin due to the continuing insurgency in the state. Investors will certainly come here as soon as the law and order situation improves, one official said.
Analysts agree that militancy is one factor that could be a serious deterrent to investment even though foreigners are keen on tapping the resource rich northeastern states. Extremist groups, they say, have been known to abduct foreigners - the United Liberation Front of Assam had abducted and killed a Russian mining expert five years ago.
American investors also showed interest in the telecom sector besides general infrastructure sectors like road and highway construction.