In a bid to promote the Centre’s Act East Policy, the third edition of the three-day North East India Festival (NEIF) will kick off in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on October 27.
The inaugural session, to be hosted by the Consul General of India Madan Mohan Sethi, will bring together critical stakeholders from both countries to hold discussions on bilateral trade and tourism, festival chief organiser Shyam Kanu Mahanta told reporters here on Tuesday.
The festival, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, seeks to take forward the Act East Policy by focusing on trade, tourism, cultural and academic exchanges, Mahanta said.
The DONER ministry will organise a meet on tourism and facilitate interactions between tour operators from Northeast India and their Vietnamese counterparts, he said.
A meet on trade will also be held under the aegis of Invest India to showcase the Northeast as an attractive destination for investments, tourism and bilateral trade, he said.
A people-to-people exchange meet will also be held to offer a platform for scholars, academics and historians from the Northeast to engage with their Vietnamese counterparts, he said.
The consul general in a video message played at the press conference said the festival constitutes a diverse array of activities, including trade, tourism and academic sessions that will facilitate business and academic linkages between India and Vietnam.
“This event exemplifies our collective endeavour to bridge Northeast India with Vietnam through trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, aligning with the Act East Policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Sethi said.
The festival will host various exhibitions, including ‘Incredible India’ destinations, textiles, state-specific exhibition zones representing various Northeastern states, tea industry, among others.
The event’s entertainment line-up will feature an array of cultural performances, including colourful folk dances from Northeast India, rock bands and fashion shows by designers from the region.
The first two edition of the festival was held in Bangkok in Thailand in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
Source : Travel Trade Journal
