India-Thailand to strengthen ties in Northeast region

New Delhi, Jan 23 (UNI) India and Thailand have identified several areas of mutual cooperation in the Northeastern Region (NER) for strengthening economic, social and cultural bonds between the two countries.

According to an official release issued here today, the process of identification took place during the four-day visit of a high powered Thai delegation from January 9 to 12.

The Thailand team was led by Deputy Minister of Industry Piyabutr Cholvijarm and the Indian team was led by Secretary, Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) V S Rao.

During their interaction, both sides recognised that food processing, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure improvement in roads, hydro-electricity, dams, water control in rivers, are areas with greater potential to be further pursued.

The meetings concluded that there will be further cooperation through exchange of information and visits of delegations to advise and assist each other to promote Thailand-India trade and investment.

The Thai delegation consisted of representatives from the Thailand Board of Investment, officials from the Royal Thai Embassy and the Thai Office of Commercial Affairs in New Delhi with Thai companies in the food, construction, banking and steel industry.

The delegation also attended three business seminars one each at Gangtok in Sikkim, Guwahati in Assam and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh and these meetings were chaired by the respective Chief Ministers of the states.

These business seminars were attended by more than 100 people participating in each seminar and many sub-group discussions on industries of common interest to the two parties.

As of now, 42 proposals for Thai-Northeast Trade Cooperation in investment and trade are being actively pursued under the overall aegis and coordination of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata.

Some of the points which were focused during these meetings include Arunachal Pradesh should aim to develop one world class tourism facility in the state. The state Government should also carry out a techno-economic survey to assess the potential of the manufacturing sector in the state.

To facilitate the tourists from Thailand the embassy should set up a tourism desk at its office in Delhi, specially for visiting the Buddhist circuit of the region.

Ministry of DoNER along with the Thailand's Ministry of Industry and the Indian Chamber of Commerce would organise a tourism convention either in Bangkok or Northeast India this year.

The Thai government would also explore the possibilities of importing fresh fruits and spices from the Northeastern Region.

UNI BKS SP RK2022