IIE Guwahati, IIM Shillong ink pact to boost entrepreneurship ecosystem in northeast

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati and the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong signed an agreement on Friday to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the northeastern region.

"The objective of this partnership is to encourage entrepreneurship, incubation, and startups in the North Eastern Region," an official statement said. To support professional development in the areas of management, entrepreneurship and skill development, and to meet the larger demand for capacity building and entrepreneurship promotion in the northeast, the institutes will collaborate and exchange information and resources, it added.

Secretary in the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship Rajesh Aggarwal said the northeast has tremendous potential that is just waiting to be discovered. "This partnership will help create an atmosphere where startups and entrepreneurs can flourish in the region by not just supporting and encouraging the locals but also giving them access to formal training, professional mentorship, and the technical know-how needed to run a successful business," Aggarwal added.

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The institutes will together conduct certified courses on entrepreneurship development and also train startups and incubate them under the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre, IIM Shillong. They will also promote educational lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other knowledge dissemination programmes in the region. Both institutes will share infrastructure facilities like laboratories, libraries, incubation centres, etc with each other for the research work of the incubates and beneficiaries. Faculties from both institutes will be part of mentoring, training, workshops, and evaluation juries for the incubation centre.