H.E. Mr. Chalit Manityakul travels to Manipur to attend the NE-ASEAN Business Summit 6-9 April 2016

Ever since the inception of the “Look East Policy” during the mid 1990’s by then Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narasimha Rao, India’s engagement with ASEAN has increased since then. His predecessors Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh played a pivotal role in strengthening this engagement. However, it is under the charismatic leadership of the incumbent Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi that India’s relations with ASEAN have entered a new dimension. To show a heightened sense of commitment and initiative PM Modi has revised and renamed the policy as the “Act East Policy”.

The reasons for the change can be attributed to three broad reasons. First, there is the economic component. As per statistics available, India’s trade with ASEAN reached $76.52 billion as of 2014. Nevertheless, analysts have placed the potential of the commercial linkages at $100 billion. (The Globalist, December 2015). The second component arises from the presence of a massive Indian Diaspora in each of the ASEAN nations. On the other hand, matters relating to security have acted as a catalyst in the formulation of the policy.

To realize that potential, Prime Minister Modi is actively pitching greater cooperation between India and ASEAN, pointing to some important initiatives his government has taken to improve the business environment as well as the robust macro-economic indicators. PM Modi’s vision centers on making India a manufacturing hub through the “Make in India” program, and improving infrastructure and the overall quality of life through the construction of smart cities. The Modi government has also initiated the Sagar Mala Project which aims to modernize ports and coastlines to enhance trade links.

In order to transform the vision of the Indian Prime Minister into reality, the Government of Manipur along with the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER), Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Chamber for Service and Industry (ICSI). Manipur comes with the strategic advantage of acting as India’s “Gateway to the South East Asia” through a town named Moreh which is at the border of Myanmar. It has acted as feasible land route for trade between India and Myanmar as well as other ASEAN and South East Asian countries.

H.E. Mr. Chalit Manityakul, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to India arrived in Imphal, Manipur on 6 April 2016, a day before the business summit and held a courtesy call on with the Chief Secretary, Mr. O. Nabakishore Singh, IAS. Both spoke in detail about the cultural similarities between the people of Northeast India and Thailand as well of the role which Thailand can play in enhancing commercial linkages with India’s North East.

H.E. Ambassador with Chief Secretary Mr. O. Nabakishore Singh, IAS

At the inaugural session of the summit, Ambassador Chalit Manityakul stated that for the region to gain prominence, it needed to prioritize and set a timeline to its objectives. The Ambassador further added that development of infrastructure should be the top-most priority. On the issue of connectivity, he urged that the respective governments of the northeastern States to focus on air connectivity as it would take less time in forging flight routes compared to completion of roads and highways.

Around 500 audiences from academic and business sectors in North East Region were participated.

Another suggestion by Ambassador Chalit Manityakul which was appreciated by the distinguished speakers of the session as well as the audience was the concept to promote Northeast as a whole rather than 8 single units. He recommended that if tourist packages were created which would enable visitors to travel to most if not all parts of the concerned region then it would lead to tourist growth.

Simultaneously, Ambassador Chalit Manityakul appealed and encouraged Thai investors to conduct feasibility studies in the region. He stated that the region had a few challenges which needed immediate attention; nevertheless they were on the right path towards development.

H.E. Ambassador visited Manipur University and interacted with the Vice Chancellor

H.E. Ambassador visited the 1st Manipur Industrial Expo where the Thai exporters were also presented.

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Royal Thai Embassy
19 April 2016