Guwahati: The second edition of the North-East India Festival in Bangkok will focus on commerce, investment, and tourist promotion, as well as cultural, educational, and people-to-people contacts.

The Embassy of India, in collaboration with Trend MMS of India, is organising the event, which will take place from July 29 to July 31, 2022, at Central World in Bangkok. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura make up India's northeastern region.

There will also be an expo showing a wide range of items created by Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises from the North-Eastern States of India in areas such as agri-products, processed food, handicrafts, and light manufacturing.

On July 30, a tourist B2B Meet and Commerce Meet will be held to raise awareness about tourism, trade, and investment potential in India's north-eastern states.

The inaugural North-East India Festival was hosted in Bangkok in February 2019, opening up significant commercial potential for the North-East Indian business community, particularly in the tourist, agro, and food processing industries.

The three-day event will begin on the evening of July 29, 2022, at the Hotel Centara Grand in Bangkok, and will be by invitation only. The Festival's Chief Guest will be H.E. Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India.

Chief Ministers and other Ministers from India's North-Eastern states, as well as prominent government officials, will attend the Festival. Thai dignitaries are also anticipated to attend the Festival and honour the inauguration. A big force of North-Eastern artists, including musicians and dancers, craftspeople, businesspeople/exhibitors, tour operators, and academicians, are scheduled to travel to Bangkok to participate in this Festival, as well as hold B2B meetings and academic exchanges.

An academic seminar on historical connect between North-East India and South East Asia, which will include interactions between scholars, historians, students from North-East India and students, scholars, historians of South East Asia, will be organised on 31 July 2022 as part of people-to-people exchange. In addition, some of best of dance forms from North-Eastern India will be presented by troupes sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) during 30 and 31 July 2022 at Zone B and Zone C of Central World, Bangkok.

The Festival is a fitting tribute to the on-going 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Thailand.