Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh speaks at the business summit (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in India)New Delhi (VNA) – A business summit between India’snortheastern region and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) has takenplace in Guwahati city of the Indian state of Assam, focusing on highereducation and herbal health sector.
The event on March 24-25 was held by theMinistry of Commerce and Industry, the Services Export Promotion Council, andthe International Chamber for Service Industry of India. It drew representativesof some ministries, sectors and universities in India, officials of eightnortheastern states, CLMV diplomats, and businesspersons.
Ravi Kappor, vice secretary of Assam state’sadministration, emphasised the role of India’s northeastern region, includingAssam, in his country’s Act East policy.
He highlighted advantages of this region, suchas a shorter travel time to Southeast Asia, including CLMV, by both road andair. He believed that the northeast of India and CLMV can cooperate in multipleaspects, especially aviation, tourism, manpower training, and health care.
Notably, the region is home to a number ofuniversities providing courses in English, and therefore, they can bedestinations for CLMV students, he said.
At the summit, Vietnamese Ambassador to IndiaTon Sinh Thanh said aside from the close proximity, India’s northeast and CLMVshare many cultural similarities. They are also prioritised by both theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India. While ASEAN hadprogrammes to narrow the development gap between CLMV and other membercountries, India launched a big programme to develop the northeast.
India has also had activities to promotecooperation with CLMV such as a credit package of 1 billion USD for projects ondigital connectivity with India and a project development fund to assist Indianinvestment in CLMV, Thanh said, considering them as favourable conditions.
However, to tap into the potential for tourism,education, IT and healthcare cooperation, both sides need to speed up roadconnectivity projects, encourage airlines to open direct flight routes, andincrease promotion activities in the two regions, he added.-VNA
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