Shillong, (Asian independent) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday said that his government has been actively working with both the Indian and Bangladesh government to ensure that submarine cable is made available to the Shillong Technology Park (STP) from the Chittagong sea port in Bangladesh.
Inaugurating the ambitious STP in Shillong, the Chief Minister said that the technology park is one of the 300 ambitious projects of the state government and all these would be inaugurated in 2022 as part of Meghalaya’s ongoing golden jubilee year.
On the occasion, Sangma also inaugurated the “TechDigital” BPO which would accommodate 300 local employees.
TechDigital is a service provider of “Total Talent Management Solution” with offices in the US, Canada and India.
Stating that connectivity is an important aspect for technological transformation, he said that the tech park would provide golden opportunities for IT professionals of Meghalaya from across the world to contribute back to their home state.
“The state government is coordinating actively with all stakeholders including the government of India for expeditious roll-out of BharatNet and improvement in the telecom network in the state. Emphasis is being given to the 4G towers being set-up funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of the central government,” the Chief Minister said.
Sangma said: “I have already announced a vision that in the next 10 years, Meghalaya should be among the top 10 states of India. The success of this Tech Park would propel the realisation of this vision.”
Meghalaya has 70 per cent population below the age of 35 years. The state has tremendous potential in the IT sector. We have a great demographic dividend to harness the young people in the technology sector, he stated.
On job creation, the Chief Minister said: “Although the first phase work of the technology park is going to create employment for more than 1,500 people directly, it is estimated that it would generate three times as many jobs indirectly.”
He informed that the tech park would support incubation centres in collaboration with industry, academia and government stakeholders.
The Chief Minister said that according to the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs” report, 50 per cent of all employees would need re-skilling by 2025, as adoption of technology increases.
Several companies have already indicated their commitment to set up their facilities at this tech park, set up at a cost of Rs 35 crore.
The construction of the Tech Park started in 2019 and was completed in the record time of 25 months.