‘Reforms brought transformational changes’
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 20: Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) today inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council of India (ESC) in Electronic and IT Sector in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
The MoU was signed by Sandeep Narula, Chairman ESC and Javid Ahmad Tenga, president, KCCI.
Sinha congratulated the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council of India for entering into a partnership to mentor and promote Kashmir based electronics and software units, organize buyer-seller meet, share experiences, best practices and knowledge in the sector.
“This MoU is a momentous occasion for J&K UT and will hugely benefit the Electronic and IT Sector in Jammu Kashmir. Participation in trade fairs, access to global market and advisory services will create value addition to grassroots innovation and help the entrepreneurs to commercialize their technologies,” he said.
The Lt Governor said, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the reforms introduced over the past few years has brought transformational changes in electronics, communication and technology sectors in Jammu Kashmir.
“In a short period of time, J&K UT has achieved several milestones in digitalisation to keep pace with the competition, to create infrastructure base for budding IT entrepreneurs, to help the rapidly growing economy and to bring efficiency and transparency in public service delivery,” he said.
“The rapid change in the IT sector provides an exciting opportunity to transform J&K UT and make it an IT hub of North India. Comprehensive cooperation, creativity and enterprise of all the stakeholders, rich pool of human resources can energise our resolve and move us closer to this goal,” he added.
At the MoU signing ceremony, Sinha also talked about how new age technologies can revolutionize the agriculture and allied sector in Jammu Kashmir.
“Agritech is another area, which offers huge opportunities for start-ups and IT entrepreneurs of J&K. Internet of Things and Automation for sensor-based smart agriculture, research and development ecosystem, technology enabled agri-informatics will create more jobs and facilitate the creation of new enterprises,” the Lt Governor said.
The growth of the technology revolution and the recent interest shown by foreign companies to tap into our skilled manpower base will enable youth to take Jammu Kashmir towards a new era of growth and technological innovation, he added.
With the help of ESC India and their vast global network, we can not only build on the gains of ongoing industrialization but also unleash the creativity and enterprise latent in our young entrepreneurs and start-up founders, the Lt Governor said.
He instructed the Industries and Commerce Department, Information Technology Department and other stakeholders for utilizing the full potential of Software Technology Park at Rangreth. “We must also extend handholding to young entrepreneurs, startups, small companies and promote public-private partnership in the IT sector,” he added.
Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Sandeep Narula, Chairman ESC; Javid Ahmad Tenga, President KCCI, Vikramjit Singh, Commissioner/Secretary Industries and Commerce Department; Veer Sagar, Vice Chairman ESC; Gurmeet Singh, Executive Director ESC, office bearers of ESC and KCCI, senior officers from civil administration and police and members of business community were present.