Guwahati: ICC holds Northeast export promotional meet in city

STAFF REPORTER

Guwahati: The Indian Chamber of Commerce-North-East Initiative, in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, organized the 3rd North-East India Buyer Sellers Meet today in the city as a continuum to the 2nd North-East India Buyer Seller Meet held in 2022. The focused countries for the meet are Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos, Thailand, and Bhutan, pertaining to the significance of these countries in several sectors of Northeast India.

In her welcome address, Atreyee Borooah Thekedath, Co-Chairperson, Assam State Council, Indian Chamber of Commerce, said that Northeast is the gateway to South Asian countries with a 98% international boundary, and there are ample opportunities for trade and export from the region. She hoped that these kinds of buyer-seller meets would bring the business fraternity of the neighbouring countries close to the entrepreneurs of Northeast. The inaugural session was graced by the presence of Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, as the chief guest. He said that growth of the region with economic safety and security is interlinked among the countries present here. Currently the Ministry of External Affairs is involved in many intra-country and inter-country projects such as the mega irrigation projects in Nepal, hydro power projects in Bhutan, sewage projects in Manipur, skill development initiative in fishery sector in Assam, to name a few. The ministry is also actively engaged with international financial organization like Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, World Bank etc. He also said that the future of the economy will belong to green technology, given the fact that, the climate change has become a reality today. Margherita also mentioned about the semi-conductor plant in Assam and stated that, this will attract many more investors to the region. The event was attended by Longki Phangcho, member, North Eastern Council, Ministry DoNER: Tenzing NorbuThongdok, member, North Eastern Council, Ministry DoNER; Ruhul Amin, Assistant High Commissioner & Head of Mission, Bangladesh Assistant High Commission, Guwahati; Cherakung Zeliang, IFS, Regional Passport Officer and Head of Branch Secretariat, Guwahati, Ministry of External Affairs. The programme was also attended by Dr. Lekh Raj Dahal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Nepal, Nirmal Bhattarai, president, Federation of Large Cardamom Entrepreneurs of Nepal; Vishnu Kant, ITS, Deputy DGFT, RA Kolkata, Govt. of India; Mohammad Junaed Ibna Ali, Vice President, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI); Chandra B. Chhetri, Secretary General, Bhutan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI); S M Abul Kalam Azad, Secretary General, India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) and Sushil Kumar Dhanuka, President, India-Thai Chamber of Commerce.

The Buyer-Seller meeting is organized to encourage both national and international companies to meet at a common platform and discuss common areas of business. These meets offer an ideal platform to buyers and sellers, who do not have adequate resources to trot across the globe in search of business opportunities. It will also offer exciting business opportunities to international clients as well and act as a guide for forming potential business partners and allies in India.

A total of 60 buyers from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, and Laos PDR participated, and 200 sellers, especially from Northeast India, participated in the Buyer Sellers Meet, which includes agriculture-horticulture, handloom and handicrafts, manufacturing, textile and food processing, medicinal plants & herbal products, tourism, manufacturing and engineering consultancy services, information technology, etc. A number of expressions of interest were also signed in the buyer-seller meet between the Northeast-based exporters and the buyers of the visiting countries.

After the inaugural session, the senior representatives of the focus countries addressed the gathering and expressed their interest in doing business with the North East Region.

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