The Hindu : Front Page : Thai investments for north-east region growth

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Thursday, Oct 04, 2007
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Thai investments for north-east region growth

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: A “good beginning has been made” in sensitising Thailand’s political establishment and captains of industry to the dynamics of investing in the economic development of India’s north-eastern States.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs and Sports, and the Development of North Eastern Region of India (DoNER), told The Hindu over telephone from Bangkok on Wednesday that the “institutional infrastructure” for such investment flows was now in place in both countries.

Mr. Aiyar is in Bangkok in connection with the “North East Trade and Investment Opportunities Week.” The event is being organised by India’s Ministries of DoNER and Commerce and the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Narrating how the event was enthusing the Thai leaders and investors, he said: “There appear to be 35 sectors in which contacts have been established between the firms operating in India’s north-east region and Thailand.” The status of these initiatives varied from firm investment proposals to preliminary discussions.

The sectors covered, too, were diverse — road construction, tourism and hospitality, hospitals, power, mining, air connectivity in the private sector, rubber plantation, orchids, and so on.

The overarching “institutional infrastructure” was made up of several pillars and some niches. He drew attention to the formation of the India Hub in the Thai Commerce Ministry and the India Desk in the Thai Board of Investments.

On the Indian side, the Ministry of DoNER, the Commerce Ministry, the North East Council, and the relevant state governments would constitute the mosaic of this overarching infrastructure.

Mr. Aiyar said India could mobilise funds, amounting to “a better part of $50 billion” over a period of time to catalyse and promote the economic development of the north-east region. The immediate aim was to create the necessary “absorptive capacities” in that region so that Thai investment flows could prove productive.

And, given the “economic complementarities” between India and Thailand, this north-east initiative could turn into “an excellent example of globalisation by South-South cooperation.”

Thailand’s Commerce Minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet inaugurated the “North East Trade and Investment Opportunities Week.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Aiyar delivered the keynote address at a function organised by the United Nations offices in Bangkok to mark the first-ever International Day of Non-Violence.

A sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled.

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