The Indian Institute of Enterpreneurship organised a trade festival here to promote entrepreneurship and provide impetus to small businesses in the region. The festival aims to provide sustainable livelihood to the micro and small businesses, targeting the households and rural sectors of the region. Organisers hope that the initiative would provide a platform to the various businesses to understand the market needs and have direct interactions with buyers besides selling their products. Products displayed in the fair included textiles, food products, home furnishing, fashion accessories and traditional Assamese jewellery. There was an interactive session with buyers to promote the entrepreneurship opportunities. “I came over here. I saw all the products, very good products, especially in textiles because since I deal in textiles and we were wondering over there from where to procure Eri silk, from where to get Muga silk but we did not have any source. We knew that it is produced in Assam but from where to buy that we did not know. So with the help of IIE (Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship) now we are able to buy those products,” said a buyer from Mumbai, Rakesh Kumar Das. The Dirang food-processing centre from Arunachal Pradesh and Ri-Bhoi strawberry cluster for the first time have produced wine from Kiwi and Strawberry fruits after they got training from the IIE in their villages. Earlier, they were confined to selling fruits, but now eatables including jam, pickles are also being produced from these fruits. “We were more than thirty people in the village and we were taught to make jam, jelly and wine. We were taught how to do market the products. It”s made from fruits, which includes apple, persimmon, kiwi,” said a participant, Tenzing Yangjom. Total 40 participants from different regions participated in the fair. The festival which started on December 27 will conclude on January 5, 2014. (ANI)
