North-eastern states share 98% of their international borders, but the region’s potential to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has remained untapped. More than three decades have elapsed since the country adopted the Look East (now Act East) policy to open the door to ASEAN neighbours, with the northeast region as the gateway to the vibrant economy. Yet, the region’s share of the total FDI in India over the last two decades remaining less than one percent presents a gloomy scenario. The people of the region continue to live in perpetual hope of faster progress and development triggered by India’s deepening bilateral and multilateral engagement with ASEAN nations and friendly neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal. Data from a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce shows that the country received total FDI to the tune of 749.39 billion US dollars during the period from 2000-01 to 2020-21, with Maharashtra accounting for 28.65% of the total, followed by Karnataka at 23.60%, and the entire northeast region receiving less than one percent of the total FDI in this two-decade-long period. The report highlights that most states in the region do not have an investment promotion agency that can act as a nodal point of contact for investors and facilitate private investment in the state. Such a gap persisting even after the organisation of a series of investors’ meetings by the states in the region speaks volumes about the lack of a collective vision of the states to capitalise on the ecosystem created by the policy frameworks under the Act East and Neighbourhood First policies to attract FDI to the region. The parliamentary panel highlighted in its report that sectors such as mining, petroleum and natural gas, healthcare, tourism, and hospitality, etc., have great potential for attracting FDI in the region. Various initiatives undertaken to promote FDI in the region include the formulation of an investor-friendly policy in sectors open for 100% FDI under the automatic route, the periodic review of FDI policy on an ongoing basis with intensive consultations with stakeholders, and the integration of the Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which facilitates single-window clearance of FDI applications requiring government approval. Two key suggestions made by the Committee are that India hold investment summits in foreign countries to promote the northeast region as an investment destination, particularly in food processing, agro industries, etc., and that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) run an awareness campaign for local industries to understand global demands in order to attract foreign investment. The underperformance of the states in the region in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) is also cited in the report as a key factor behind poor FDI, which calls for attention by the states to take corrective measures towards making the ecosystem investor-friendly. The Committee has also held the view that the absence of policy convergence in the different sectors causes difficulties in running businesses and setting up industrial units. The EoDB need not necessarily be dominated by policy reforms and easing environmental and forest laws, and necessary reforms in the applications and other official processes of issuing various licences and permits continue to be held hostage under bureaucratic red tape. DPIIT, while apprising the committee, pointed towards another persisting gap: industrial policies notified by the state governments from time to time are often unable to achieve their objectives due to inadequate financial backing for the incentives envisaged and the administrative support system not being put in place in many cases. The committee’s recommendation for setting up a single window system for simplifying the processes for obtaining approvals and licences for setting up businesses and overhauling complicated tax registration, filing, and payment mechanisms in the region to improve ease of doing business will require the states to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing single window mechanism to identify critical gaps and take corrective measures. The government’s rush to ease environmental norms without adequate checks and balances in the ecologically fragile northeast region in the name of EoDB could have serious consequences. A slew of connectivity projects have led to improvements in intra-regional road, railway, air, and waterway connectivity, which has been long neglected, but early completion of trans-border connectivity projects is crucial to boost confidence among potential foreign investors about the existence of seamless connectivity for the supply of raw materials and finished products from the region to a larger global market. If local entrepreneurs are not able to realise the potential created by connectivity projects and bilateral and multilateral agreements signed by India with neighbouring countries and do not start dreaming big, the flow of FDI into the region cannot be expected to increase significantly. Success stories already scripted, irrespective of the scale of production and market reach, need to be promoted to encourage the youth of the region to stop running after government jobs and become entrepreneurs and job providers with an eye on global markets.