Business Boom Beyond Border: a Case of India and Myanmar
1. Introduction
Trade is backbone and life blood of economic growth and development for any country. No country shall survive without trade in today’s liberalization and globalization eras. The importance of trade is appreciated within the framework of comparative advantage of a region/country concerned. But trade is much more important to the land locked backward North East Region of India which characterized by low income, industrially backward and small size markets that fail to absorb sufficient volume of output which in turn leads to low incentive for inflow investment.
North East Region of India is sharing 98 per cent of its border with neighbouring counties viz., Myanmar (1643km), China (1000km), Bhutan (650km), Bangladesh (1640km), Nepal (1,751) as against 2 per cent of its border being shared with the only other states of India Union . The total length of the international border is more than 5000 km but bordered with mainland India through 22 km wide Siliguri “chicken neck” corridor in Assam and West Bengal border. In this regard Sanjoy Hazarika pointed out that the North East Region is closer to Hanoi than New Delhi. Besides, more than 70 per cent of the region is hilly terrain and facing frequent natural calamities like landslide and floods. Due to above reasons, the region is poor in infrastructural facilities, technologically primitive and remained as underdeveloped region. Hence, the region tends to look more to neighbouring countries than to mainland India for trade and commerce to sustain its economy and subsequently, economic growth. In this context cross border trade with neighbouring countries will have great significance to economic development and bring prosperity to the population of North East Region of India as well as border regions of the neighbouring countries.
Being the bordered with Myanmar, cross border trade has great significance and advantage to the Manipur as the state is landlocked hilly backward state which imported
Trade is backbone and life blood of economic growth and development for any country. No country shall survive without trade in today’s liberalization and globalization eras. The importance of trade is appreciated within the framework of comparative advantage of a region/country concerned. But trade is much more important to the land locked backward North East Region of India which characterized by low income, industrially backward and small size markets that fail to absorb sufficient volume of output which in turn leads to low incentive for inflow investment.
North East Region of India is sharing 98 per cent of its border with neighbouring counties viz., Myanmar (1643km), China (1000km), Bhutan (650km), Bangladesh (1640km), Nepal (1,751) as against 2 per cent of its border being shared with the only other states of India Union . The total length of the international border is more than 5000 km but bordered with mainland India through 22 km wide Siliguri “chicken neck” corridor in Assam and West Bengal border. In this regard Sanjoy Hazarika pointed out that the North East Region is closer to Hanoi than New Delhi. Besides, more than 70 per cent of the region is hilly terrain and facing frequent natural calamities like landslide and floods. Due to above reasons, the region is poor in infrastructural facilities, technologically primitive and remained as underdeveloped region. Hence, the region tends to look more to neighbouring countries than to mainland India for trade and commerce to sustain its economy and subsequently, economic growth. In this context cross border trade with neighbouring countries will have great significance to economic development and bring prosperity to the population of North East Region of India as well as border regions of the neighbouring countries.
Being the bordered with Myanmar, cross border trade has great significance and advantage to the Manipur as the state is landlocked hilly backward state which imported