Shillong, Oct 27: A two-day conclave of the Young Leaders Connect (YLC) commenced in Shillong on Saturday under the theme, “Made in Northeast.”

This is the sixth edition of the annual conclave of young leaders of the Northeast from diverse fields.

The first day of the conclave was at the NEC Auditorium.

Meghalaya chief minister, and chief host Conrad K. Sangma, Ministry of DONER secretary, Naveen Verma, Lok Sabha MP from Assam, Gaurav Gogoi, and leaders from fields like business, politics, sports, music and culture attended the conclave.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju Rijiju, who is also the chief patron of YLC will take part in the round table discussion on “made in Northeast and way forward” at Hotel Pinwood on Sunday.

Conrad in his inaugural address called for a collective effort from all stakeholders to tackle the issues concerning states in the North Eastern Region in order to put the region in the pedestal of growth and development.

He also spoke about initiatives being undertaken by the Meghalaya government to support innovative entrepreneurs in the State.

“We have initiated the ‘entrepreneurship of the month’ program wherein selected entrepreneurs of the State will be given support and guidance by the Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship. We have also decided to start incubation centres in three different locations in the State which will provide a space for entrepreneurs from different fields to connect and link with other entrepreneurs”, he said.

The Chief Minister also highlighted the potential of the North Eastern Region in terms of food processing.

Assam MP, Gaurav Gogoi, stressed the need to connect, share and emulate the best ideas to fuel innovation and creativity among the youth.

“We cannot be complacent, we need to be productive and each and everyone of us have a responsibility towards our community and our people. People’s perception of our region should be in sync with contemporary North East which young, enterprising and innovative”, he said.

Naveen Verma, Secretary Ministry of DONER, spoke on the need for greater cooperation among the states in order to create a conducive atmosphere to achieve goals and objectives beneficial to the region in a speedy manner.

“In sectors such as tourism we need to collectively market the North East as a whole and not as separate units”, Verma said.

The opening address was delivered by Bhaichung Bhutia, Chair YLC, who informed the gathering that the YLC was started in 2011 with an “idea to bring all young achievers of the North East under one platform”.

Others who spoke at the inaugural session were Hekani Jakhalu, Chair YLC, Governing Council, YouthNet, and Larsing Ming Sawyan, Managing Director, Centre Point Group of Enterprise and Co-Chair of the YLC-6.