Chandigarh, Apr 17 (PTI) CII northern region chairman Deepak Jain on Monday highlighted the need for the right infrastructure, logistics and government support to transform the region into the country's industrial hub.

States like Punjab and Haryana have a high potential for exports from sectors like textile, auto components, bi-cycle, food processing etc., he said here.

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CII northern region shall soon initiate an incubation programme for hand-holding budding entrepreneurs and also help them in networking to find potential investors, said a statement.

It shall also work towards bridging the rural-urban disconnect and will work extensively on bringing in diversity at workplaces in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.

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"This year, CII will focus on internalising the tenets of sustainability and climate action and accelerating its globalisation journey for leadership in a changing world. This will be undertaken through an inclusive model of growth that builds trust between all stakeholders, including government, industry, society, consumers, investors, and the external community," said Jain.

He gave the example of projects like CII's crop residue management, which is running in 12 districts of Punjab and Haryana, covering 300 villages and 3 lakh acres of farmland and 50,000 farmers.

Jain also announced the CII national theme for the year, 'Towards a Competitive and Sustainable India@100: Growth, Livelihood, Globalisation, Building Trust', which aims to amalgamate CII's efforts in the country towards scaling the competitiveness ladder to drive growth.

CII northern region's five main priorities and focus areas for the year include export-led growth and competitiveness, innovation and digital transformation, sustainability and clean tech, startups and entrepreneurship, and diversity and inclusion, said the statement.

Amongst other action points, CII envisions engaging with the state governments for policy advocacy on a host of issues such as onboarding the national single window system along with forming GST-like councils in areas of reform such as labour, power, agriculture, land, education, and healthcare.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)