Official sources here today said, while speaking as chief guest at the Symposium on 'Export Prospects and Concerns in Nagaland' here Dr Nihoshe said though Nagas were willing to catch up with the rest of the country and the world, local entrepreneurs, who applied for loans received irregular funds from banks and slowly lost interest in their businesses as they ended up having to pay high interest on loans.
While making a plea for adequate funds flow from the Centre, Dr Nihoshe lamented that red-tapism while processing project proposals from the state to DoNER and then to the ministry involved took too much time.
He cited the example of the proposal for a cold storage at Dimapur airport but it could not make much headway owing to red-tapism.
He said the agriculture and horticulture potentials could not be exploited owing to lack of facilities and poor infrastructure.
Dr Nihoshe said the state government wanted facilities for farmers to harvest and be able to market fresh produce the very next day to other metro cities like Delhi.
He said the state government had declared Nagaland as an organic state citing its favourable climatic conditions with rich forest, agriculture produce, medicinal and aromatic plants. In this regard, he suggested a single window clearance from the government of India.
The Secretary also spoke of the state’s human resource potential among its educated youths, who were willing to venture out anywhere but hampered due to lack of opportunities.
He buttressed the point citing the opening of an institute for learning Chinese in the state.