World Bank Seeks State’s Tourism details from Government

Bank commits to explore and exploit tourism potential

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 21: In what can be termed as an encouraging development towards promoting tourism in the State, the World Bank on Tuesday assured Dispur that it is committed to explore and exploit tourism potential of Assam.

The assurance came during a meeting between a team of World Bank and State Tourism Minister Chandan Brahma here on Tuesday. The team represented by senior World Bank officials Albert Sole and Soujanya Krishna told Brahma that the financial institutions must receive adequate data, information and background about the State’s tourism before exploring and exploiting the sector by funding various schemes.

During the meeting the World Bank officials said the bank has proposed to visit Assam with a large team of experts from tourism and employment generation. The team is likely to visit the State within a month or so which will also help in study of environmental sustainability, increase in marketing outreach and take Assam tourism in higher value chain.

The World Bank team also assessed an Assam government proposal for an eco-tourism project to the tune of nearly Rs 800 crore. The proposal, submitted to the Ministry of DONER in February 2018, focuses on developing eco-tourism sites, especially in Dima Hasao, Majuli, Barak Valley districts, among others, along with a few pilgrimage sites to attract tourists from China, Japan and Korea.

Chairman of Assam Tourism Development Corporation Jayanta Malla Barua who was also present in the Tuesday’s meeting was hopeful of a positive outcome from the World Bank.