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The paradox of eastern South
Asia
By Shehla Raza Hasan
KOLKATA - A region with abundant natural
resources, boundless natural beauty, international
borders, a 400-million-strong population with varied
languages, cultures and traditions. No, it's not the
European Union, and any resemblance to that regional
grouping probably ends there.
In any discussion
on eastern South Asia, comprising the Indian states of
West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, the northeastern
region, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, one
cannot miss the strange paradox. The entire region is a
storehouse of untapped potential, but constitutes one of
the poorest populations in the world with little or no
private investment forthcoming.
The northeastern
region of India, especially, has a history of government
doles that have served to stem any indigenous
entrepreneurial spirit in the region. Insurgency and
militancy in some states of the region have also served
to give the entire region a bad name, which is a further
deterrent to private sector investment.
Most
Indologists believe that if you draw a straight line
from Kanpur to Chennai, to the west of the line lies the
rich India, and to the east lies the poor India.
Ironically, however, a large chunk of South Asia's
natural wealth lies in this poor region, be it coal,
iron ore, bauxite, limestone, oil, natural gas, bamboo,
food and agricultural products, hydro-electric power or
tourism potential. In fact, the "seven sisters" of the
northeastern region alone, comprising Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura
together with Sikkim and Bangladesh have the potential
of developing into a powerhouse.
Says Professor
Rehman Sobhan of the Center for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka,
"The sharing of the wealth of the water resources of the
region captured in the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna,
Barah is one of the mightiest water resources on the
face of the earth."
Impressive
statistics
The figures are phenomenal. Natural
gas reserves of 190 billion cubic meters, coal reserves
of 909 million tonnes, hydro-electric potential
estimated at 49,000 MW, oil reserves pegged at 513
million tonnes, limestone reserves of 4933 million
tonnes and a forest cover that comprises 25 percent of
the country's entire forest area. The northeast harvests
8.1 million tonnes of bamboo, which is about 54 percent
of the country's share and valued at Rs 10 billion
(US$209 million). The bamboo sector is currently
expanding into neighboring China to meet the huge
internal market and to satisfy increasing exports. The
average yearly household income from bamboo shoots in
China amounts to $2,500, with some above $10,000. In
contrast, there is little or no export of bamboo
products from this region. Given the right initiative,
the region could compete in fulfilling the worldwide
demand for bamboo to a considerable extent.
Take
the case of West Bengal. India's largest producer of
rice and fish.The state is strong in human resources.
However, it suffers from an equally strong negative
image due to a history of labor militancy. The 25-year
rule by the Left Front government may have given it the
stamp of being one of the world's last bastions of
communism. However, since the New industrial Policy was
formulated in 1991 and with its land reform program a
thumping success, the state government has taken steps
to show the way to investors and is keen to replicate
China's successful experience of market socialism.
Another state, Orissa, normally only makes the
headlines when there is a natural calamity, such as the
1999 cyclone, heat wave deaths and so on. There are also
the occasional stories of the non-implementation of
relief measures and how aid does not reach the deserving
but finds its way into the pockets of unscrupulous
officials. Not many hear about how the state is a
veritable treasure house of historic monuments, temples
and beaches, and its potential to become a tourism
haven. Given the right kind of infrastructure,
investment, government initiative and information
network, It could compete with Southeast Asian countries
as an attractive tourism destination.
Its
neighbor, Bihar, which is the richest state in terms of
minerals, is still an economic backwater with no
significant investment in the horizon, but it makes the
news because of lawlessness and corruption.
Seen
in isolation, these states could be termed as also-rans
in the race for economic prosperity, having lost out to
Gujarat, Maharashtra and the southern states. However,
in perspective, if the states along with the neighboring
countries were to integrate economically and marry their
fortunes, they could emerge as a formidable economic
hub, where trade and commerce would increase by leaps
and bounds.
The bottlenecks
However,
there are bottlenecks within respective government
policies. For instance, India-Bangladesh talks have been
dominated by border issues, illegal immigrants and
Bangladesh's alleged support of Islamic terrorist
networks operating in India. Any consideration of
economic integration takes second priority, at least for
the moment.
Sobhan advised, "It is necessary to
draw out the advantages of geography to build zones of
regional cooperation which can generate the necessary
synergies needed to transfer backward regions into
dynamic areas of opportunities."
An important
step towards looking at this region as a whole instead
of as isolated states would be to declare the northeast
region a special economic zone. If this entire region
operated as such a zone, a path-breaking concept
introduced in India's export-import policy last year, it
could take a leaf out of the highly successful Chinese
examples of the special economic zones of the provinces
of Guangdong, Fujian and the Pudong area of Shanghai,
which were systematically transformed into hubs of
prosperity.
However, this task needs to be
accomplished within a timeframe and should be subject to
periodic reviews. These suggestions are being considered
by the Indian government after a ground-breaking
northeast business summit organized by the Kolkata-based
Indian Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai last July.
New hope for an Asian highway
Another
way to integrate this South Asian sub-region, as it is
known by experts, would be the culmination of the
proposed Asian Highway. It needs some imagination to
visualize that one day, one will be able to drive from
Kolkata all the way to Thailand. Critical to the route
that has been charted out is the revival of the historic
Stillwell Road, which was built by the British to create
a road link between India and Myanmar during World War
II.
The road begins in India's tea-producing
state of Assam. It passes through the dense forests of
the neighboring state of Arunachal Pradesh and upper
Myanmar's Kachin state before ending in China's Yunnan
province. With road links already existing between
Myanmar and northern Chiang Mai province of Thailand, it
would not be impossible to actually drive from India
through China to Singapore.
The road, however,
has fallen into disuse and the seven states of northeast
India have been demanding its reopening. The chief
ministers of the region last year submitted a joint
proposal to reopen the road in order to attract tourists
and to increase trade with Southeast Asian countries.
They believe that the road will significantly facilitate
trade and commerce. However, the Indian government is
dragging its feet on this issue due to insurgency
problems.
Indian Chamber of Commerce secretary
Nazeeb Arif, who is a passionate proponent of economic
cooperation in this sub-region, said, "If you visualize
a map in which Kolkata is looked at as being on the
western side, as you go eastwards, there is a world of
opportunities. One only needs the right initiative to
set the ball rolling."
Taking cognizance of the
potential of this sub-region, the Asian Development Bank
has been involved in the South Asian Sub-Regional
Economic Cooperation since 1997, after this initiative
was launched by the foreign ministers of Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India and Nepal with a view to forming a South
Asia growth quadrangle.
Until any breakthrough
occurs for the rapid economic transformation of this
region, any essay on this sub-region and the paradox
that lies within reminds one of the opening lines of
Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities.
"It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was
the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was
the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of light, it was the season of darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us."
Are all the concerned governments listening?
(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
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