Guwahati, Assam, November, 22: Indian Chamber of Commerce-North-East Initiative in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India organized the 3 nd North-East India Buyer Sellers Meet today at the city today as a continuum to the 2 nd 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 significant of these countries in several sectors of North-East India.
In her Welcome Address Atreyee Borooah Thekedath, Co-Chairperson, Assam State Council, Indian Chamber of Commerce, said that North East is the gateway to South Asian countries with 98% international boundary and there are ample of opportunities for trade an export from the region. She hoped that these kind of Buyer Seller meets will bring the business fraternity of the neiboroing countries close to the entrepreneurs of North east. The inaugural session was graced by the presence of Pabitra Margherita, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India as the Chief Guest. He said that growth of the region with economic safety and security is interlinked among the countries present here.
Currently 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.
Mr. Margherita also mentioned about the semi-conductor plant in Assam and stated that, this will attract many more investors to the region. Lastly, he said that, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has very high attention towards the growth of North East India. The event was attended by Longki Phangcho, Hon'ble Member, North Eastern Council, Ministry DoNER, Govt. of India; Tenzing Norbu Thongdok, Hon’ble Member, North Eastern Council, Ministry DoNER, Govt. of India; H.E. 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, Govt. of India.
The program was also attended by Dr. Lekh Raj Dahal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of 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 organised to encourage both national and international companies to meet at a common platform and discuss common areas of business. These meets offers 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 acts 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 specially from North East 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. The event also discussed the opportunities of trade and investment between North-East India and the focused countries. The initiative has been designed with an aim to market the true potential of North- East India. A number of expressions of interest was also signed in the Buyer Seller Meet between the North East based exporters and the buyers of the visiting countries.
While delivering the Vote of Thanks, Ishantor Sobhapandit, Regional Director- NE, Indian Chamber of Commerce thanked the buyer and the sellers for their participation in the meet. On behalf of Indian Chamber of Commerce, he also welcomed and thanked Pabitra Margherita and rest of the guest for understanding the importance and accepting the invitation. 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.
