ASEAN-NORTH EAST INDIA SUMMIT HELD IN VIETNAM
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in its endeavour to attract investment and forge linkages in critical sectors like infrastructure, agro-industries, tourism, commerce & industry in the North Eastern Region held ASEAN-North East India Investment & Trade Opportunities Summit at Ho-Chi-Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam from 12th to 14th February, 2009. It is in the series of such events held earlier – North East Investment Opportunities Week from 1st-4th October, 2007 at Bangkok and North East India Investment Conference on 26th September, 2007 at New York as a part of India@60 event. These events have been conceptualized, guided and decided to be held under the leadership of Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Hon’ble Minister for DoNER and Panchayati Raj, Govt. of India. The present mega-event was an offshoot of 4th North East Business Summit held at Guwahati on 15-16 September, 2008, first time ever organized in the North East which was inaugurated by H.E. Vice President of India and attended by more than 1500 persons including ministers, officers and representatives from the North Eastern states and Central Ministries, business entrepreneurs and more significantly by Heads of Missions and delegations from 13 countries. Thereafter, a number of delegations from Nordic countries, some of the Latin American & Caribbean countries, Czech Republic, Thailand, both at Minister and officer level, visited several states of the North Eastern Region.
The HCMC Summit which was organized by M/o DoNER partnering with Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata, was attended by 140 participants from India and nearly 200 participants from Vietnam and neighbouring ASEAN countries. The Govt. of India delegation was led by Shri Jarnail Singh, Secretary, M/o DoNER and attended by Ministers from Sikkim, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Ministers from Cambodia and Vietnam also participated along with their officials. Representatives of state governments, Central organizations, PSUs, entrepreneurs from India and Vietnam and business chambers – Vietnam Chambers of Commerce & Industries (VCCI), Eurocham, Incham, Auscham, Singapore Business Group, Canadian Chambers of Commerce, Malaysian Chambers of Commerce, Korean Chambers of Commerce, Taiwan Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam, Ambassador of India and Indian Consul General in Vietnam, Asian Development Bank (ADB), North Eastern Council (NEC) and Cane & Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) also participated in the Summit.
The major areas discussed, both in group sessions and one-to-one meetings, include infrastructure, horticulture & agro-food industries, tourism, service sector and cooperation in handloom & handicraft sector. The Vietnam & ASEAN countries have expressed keen interest in taking the process forward by way of exchange programmes in these sectors. In addition, the event highlighted the promotion of investment and trade opportunities of the North-Eastern states with ASEAN countries, especially Vietnam which are geographically and culturally so similar. Mr. Le Doung, Vice Minister of Industries & Trade, Vietnam, who was Guest of Honour in the Inaugural Session, mentioned that Vietnam and India have had very good relationship for a long time. He mentioned that last year, bilateral trade between the two nations reached US$ 2.5 billion. He expressed hope that Indian North Eastern states have huge potential and Vietnam enterprises would be pouring investment into the Region which will help foster the relationship. The issue of regional integration was highlighted by him. There was tremendous coverage in Vietnamese newspapers, namely Viet Nam News and Saigon Times with several positive features of this first ever initiative of its kind. Both Indian Embassy and VCCI as well as representatives of expatriate chambers mentioned that Summit was unprecedented from the point of focused attention, level of participation and the issues discussed.
On the sidelines of the Summit, there was a meeting on Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle (CLV-DT) in the afternoon of 14th February, 2009 which was the second day of the Summit. It was chaired by Shri Jarnail Singh, Secretary, DoNER and attended by Ministers from Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya and officials from state governments. Cambodia was represented by Mr. Sok Sopheak, Director General of International Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of Cambodia and Vietnam was represented by Mr. Tran Quan Huy, Deputy Director General, South-West Asia & Africa Deptt., Ministry of Industry & Trade, Govt. of Vietnam. The Joint Statement which was signed on 21st January, 2009 between H.E. Mr. Cham Prasidh, Senior Minister of Commerce, Cambodia and Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Hon’ble Minister for DoNER, Panchayati Raj & Chairman, NEC, was discussed.
There was a broad agreement in CLV countries to associate experts to revise and update the Master Plan for CLV-DT. Dr. Govind Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP), New Delhi, gave a presentation on the process of finalization and objective of NER Vision 2020. While Vietnam will coordinate with Laos who were not present, Cambodia will organize to take the process further. As regards Human Resource Development, specific requests would be indicated by the CLV countries so as to interact with line ministries/institutes in India which may be taken care of under ITEC Programme of MEA.
Regarding trade linkages, it was clarified by the Cambodian side in CLV-DT meeting that the outcome of signing of FTA would be known shortly and on that issue, they are constantly in touch with Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India. In the field of tourism and culture, it was mentioned that 2 million tourists visit Cambodia every year which includes a sizeable part of Indians. Vietnam, however, receives hardly about 12,000 visitors form India. Therefore, there should be a broad-based CLV-NE India tourist linkages by way of developing infrastructure, road and rail connectivity, direct flights to HCMC and relaxation of visa regime including the state-specific restrictions as presently in vogue in the NE states.
The ASEAN-North East India Investment & Trade Opportunities Summit ended with high note of optimism wherein 10 MOUs were signed and 60 positive Expression of Interests (EOIs) were received by ICC, Kolkata. The major areas included construction, tourism, agro-products, handloom & handicrafts sector, power generation, packaging, IT & IT-Enabled Services, health services and consultancy firms. Mr. Sok Sopheak, Director General of International Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of Cambodia, mentioned that India is 7th largest trading partner of ASEAN and trade volume during 2007 was to the tune of US$ 640 billions. He suggested that simplification of procedures for trade, tourism, aviation and visa should be considered to upscale the gains of this Summit.
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in its endeavour to attract investment and forge linkages in critical sectors like infrastructure, agro-industries, tourism, commerce & industry in the North Eastern Region held ASEAN-North East India Investment & Trade Opportunities Summit at Ho-Chi-Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam from 12th to 14th February, 2009. It is in the series of such events held earlier – North East Investment Opportunities Week from 1st-4th October, 2007 at Bangkok and North East India Investment Conference on 26th September, 2007 at New York as a part of India@60 event. These events have been conceptualized, guided and decided to be held under the leadership of Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Hon’ble Minister for DoNER and Panchayati Raj, Govt. of India. The present mega-event was an offshoot of 4th North East Business Summit held at Guwahati on 15-16 September, 2008, first time ever organized in the North East which was inaugurated by H.E. Vice President of India and attended by more than 1500 persons including ministers, officers and representatives from the North Eastern states and Central Ministries, business entrepreneurs and more significantly by Heads of Missions and delegations from 13 countries. Thereafter, a number of delegations from Nordic countries, some of the Latin American & Caribbean countries, Czech Republic, Thailand, both at Minister and officer level, visited several states of the North Eastern Region.
The HCMC Summit which was organized by M/o DoNER partnering with Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC), Kolkata, was attended by 140 participants from India and nearly 200 participants from Vietnam and neighbouring ASEAN countries. The Govt. of India delegation was led by Shri Jarnail Singh, Secretary, M/o DoNER and attended by Ministers from Sikkim, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Ministers from Cambodia and Vietnam also participated along with their officials. Representatives of state governments, Central organizations, PSUs, entrepreneurs from India and Vietnam and business chambers – Vietnam Chambers of Commerce & Industries (VCCI), Eurocham, Incham, Auscham, Singapore Business Group, Canadian Chambers of Commerce, Malaysian Chambers of Commerce, Korean Chambers of Commerce, Taiwan Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam, Ambassador of India and Indian Consul General in Vietnam, Asian Development Bank (ADB), North Eastern Council (NEC) and Cane & Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) also participated in the Summit.
The major areas discussed, both in group sessions and one-to-one meetings, include infrastructure, horticulture & agro-food industries, tourism, service sector and cooperation in handloom & handicraft sector. The Vietnam & ASEAN countries have expressed keen interest in taking the process forward by way of exchange programmes in these sectors. In addition, the event highlighted the promotion of investment and trade opportunities of the North-Eastern states with ASEAN countries, especially Vietnam which are geographically and culturally so similar. Mr. Le Doung, Vice Minister of Industries & Trade, Vietnam, who was Guest of Honour in the Inaugural Session, mentioned that Vietnam and India have had very good relationship for a long time. He mentioned that last year, bilateral trade between the two nations reached US$ 2.5 billion. He expressed hope that Indian North Eastern states have huge potential and Vietnam enterprises would be pouring investment into the Region which will help foster the relationship. The issue of regional integration was highlighted by him. There was tremendous coverage in Vietnamese newspapers, namely Viet Nam News and Saigon Times with several positive features of this first ever initiative of its kind. Both Indian Embassy and VCCI as well as representatives of expatriate chambers mentioned that Summit was unprecedented from the point of focused attention, level of participation and the issues discussed.
On the sidelines of the Summit, there was a meeting on Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle (CLV-DT) in the afternoon of 14th February, 2009 which was the second day of the Summit. It was chaired by Shri Jarnail Singh, Secretary, DoNER and attended by Ministers from Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya and officials from state governments. Cambodia was represented by Mr. Sok Sopheak, Director General of International Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of Cambodia and Vietnam was represented by Mr. Tran Quan Huy, Deputy Director General, South-West Asia & Africa Deptt., Ministry of Industry & Trade, Govt. of Vietnam. The Joint Statement which was signed on 21st January, 2009 between H.E. Mr. Cham Prasidh, Senior Minister of Commerce, Cambodia and Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Hon’ble Minister for DoNER, Panchayati Raj & Chairman, NEC, was discussed.
There was a broad agreement in CLV countries to associate experts to revise and update the Master Plan for CLV-DT. Dr. Govind Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP), New Delhi, gave a presentation on the process of finalization and objective of NER Vision 2020. While Vietnam will coordinate with Laos who were not present, Cambodia will organize to take the process further. As regards Human Resource Development, specific requests would be indicated by the CLV countries so as to interact with line ministries/institutes in India which may be taken care of under ITEC Programme of MEA.
Regarding trade linkages, it was clarified by the Cambodian side in CLV-DT meeting that the outcome of signing of FTA would be known shortly and on that issue, they are constantly in touch with Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India. In the field of tourism and culture, it was mentioned that 2 million tourists visit Cambodia every year which includes a sizeable part of Indians. Vietnam, however, receives hardly about 12,000 visitors form India. Therefore, there should be a broad-based CLV-NE India tourist linkages by way of developing infrastructure, road and rail connectivity, direct flights to HCMC and relaxation of visa regime including the state-specific restrictions as presently in vogue in the NE states.
The ASEAN-North East India Investment & Trade Opportunities Summit ended with high note of optimism wherein 10 MOUs were signed and 60 positive Expression of Interests (EOIs) were received by ICC, Kolkata. The major areas included construction, tourism, agro-products, handloom & handicrafts sector, power generation, packaging, IT & IT-Enabled Services, health services and consultancy firms. Mr. Sok Sopheak, Director General of International Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of Cambodia, mentioned that India is 7th largest trading partner of ASEAN and trade volume during 2007 was to the tune of US$ 640 billions. He suggested that simplification of procedures for trade, tourism, aviation and visa should be considered to upscale the gains of this Summit.
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