Arunachal Pradesh Innovation & Investment Park (APIIP)

In a big move to accelerate growth, Chief Minister Pema Khandu today launched Arunachal Pradesh Innovation & Investment Park (APIIP) at Niti Vihar here. It will provide access to resources & expertise to Startups & new ventures, he said.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Khandu wrote: Churning out #JobCreators! A first of kind #ArunachalPradesh Innovation & Investment Park (APIIP) launched today. This #IncubationCentre setup under Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Development Programme will provide access to resources & expertise to startups & new ventures.

On the occasion, the CM also distributed seed funds to top 31 startups selected out of 4000 participants under the AP Entrepreneurship Development Programme, which was launched by him on August 15 last year. Each top 10 and next 21 winners were awarded with Rs five lakh and four lakh respectively.

Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Investment Division of the Department of Finance, Planning & Investment, Govt of Arunachal Pradesh has managed to bring the first phase of the Entrepreneurships Development Programme to its logical conclusion by launching the APIIP and giving seed funds to the 31 winners, said an official release here.

The Chief Minister, who started his speech with reference to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav as propagated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the 75th year of Indias Independence, spoke on the way forward for the startups initiative in the State. He stated that the identity of the North East states has improved significantly under PM Modis leadership.

Connectivity has improved  making travel from East to West Arunachal seamless, road construction is going on all across the state, railway connectivity has improved  very soon places like Tawang, Basar, Ziro will be connected by Railways. Work on Hollongi airport was also pending for some time, but under the current State Government and with support from the Central Government, work is going on at full swing and, if all goes smoothly, we will be able to launch the airport on August 15 next.

Such types of development were not in my wildest dreams, said the Chief Minister.

While appreciating the 31 young entrepreneurs, Khandu said Arunachal can produce entrepreneurs who can drive sustainable and scalable businesses. He hoped that this Park would be able to connect to all the budding startups in the State.

Through this, he said, the Govt can promote sectors like tourism, agri & allied which are the high-priority sectors of growth. The Chief Minister concluded his speech saying that the launching of Arunachal Pradesh Innovation & Investment Park is the starting point of a Vision, and assured to strengthen the Investment Division by providing all kinds of government support.

In his speech, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, also the Minister in charge of Planning & Investment, expressed immense happiness to see the youths of Arunachal Pradesh coming forward to do something on their own. He applauded the Planning & Investment Division for creating such a world-class facility for Startups and assured to give all possible government support to the APIIP.

Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar talked about the ability of entrepreneurs to solve problems, and suggested that the Planning & Investment Deptt can connect with IIM Shilong with whom the State has recently signed a MoU, to avail their expertise.

Earlier, Commissioner (Planning & Investment) PS Lokhande delivered the welcome address and spoke about the mission to create an enabling ecosystem for startups. Secretary, Planning and Investment, N T Glow also spoke.

State Nodal Officer for Startup and Investment Promotion, Tabe Haidar, gave an overview of the Startup initiative taken up in the State through video promotion. He said that APIIP, the first of its kind in the State, will go a long way to create a vibrant ecosystem for the young entrepreneurs of the State and build a self-reliant, knowledge-based economy so that the youth of today can be transformed from job seekers to job givers.