Asom's golden silk draws Thai favour

Guwahati, Jun 23: A business delegation from Thailand, led by their Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet, visited the silk town of Sualkuchi today and evinced interest in importing the golden silk from Asom.

The 29-member delegation is in the state as part of their four-day North-East visit to foster trade links between the region and Thailand.

They were accompanied by Minister for Development of NE Region (DoNER) Mani Shankar Aiyar and the Union Commerce Minister of State Jairam Ramesh and top officials of both ministries. Asom Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi also visited Sualkuchi along with the foreign team.

The delegation would hold a top-level meeting with Asom government representatives later in the evening.

During the Sualkuchi visit, the Thai delegates praised the famous golden silk of the state and indicated that import of the silk and the weaving expertise could be explored.

They also commented on the tourism potential of Sualkuchi, particularly due to its location near the capital city of Guwahati.

The Thai minister and his team visited Agartala yesterday and would proceed to Shillong tomorrow.

The Union government is giving full thrust on the 'Look East Policy' and only last week External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting through its Public Diplomacy division at Shillong.

As a part of the same strategy, the DONER arranged this high profile visit as Thailand is closer to the NE geographically than many of the Southern and Northern cities of India, including the three metros of Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

Notably this is not the first Thai business delegation, but two more had visited the region in the past.

However, so far no tangible progress had been made except the bi-weekly direct flight between Guwahati and Bangkok.

The DONER had been trying hard to sell the North-East and Russian ambassador Vladimir Trubnikov and Australian high commissioner John McCarthy could be Mr Aiyar's next guests.

UNI

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