30th Jul, New Delhi: The second edition of the North East Festival began on Friday with discussions starting from the very start, as top Thai tour operators interacted with tourism stakeholders from the North-East region. The meeting, organized at the Centara Grand Hotel, began with a presentation by the festival’s chief organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta. Moderated by Meghalaya’s Tourism Director Cyril Diengdoh. It also saw presentations on Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland.
In her welcome address, Ambassador of India to Thailand Suchitra Durai termed this a pathbreaking initiative to promote the Indo-Thai relationship. Various Ministers, including Union Minister R K Ranjan, along with top officials of tourism agencies in Thailand spoke about shared efforts to promote tourism between both regions.
Minister of State for External Affairs, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh was also present at the tourism seminar. He tweeted about his address, “Addressing at the Seminar on Tourism Opportunities in North East India during the 2nd #NorthEastIndiaFestival in Bangkok, highlighted the tourism opportunities in NE region of India and invited people of Thailand to explore the beautiful region.”
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, on the other hand, termed the festival as a “historic initiative which will change the entire dynamics of India’s Act East Policy”.
Durai hosted a special lunch session which was attended by Chief Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and top officials from the North-East besides Bangkok-based industrialists and policymakers.
The main festival has already kick-started today and Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit graced the festival with his presence. Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma tweeted, “North East welcomes the Hon’ble Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit to the North East India Festival in Bangkok.”
Song, dance, and fashion events, exhibitions of MSME products, state-specific exhibitions, North-Eastern cuisines, collaborative art shows, and business-to-business meets are on the agenda, for today and tomorrow.