Addressing the event, Tan stressed the favourable conditions for Vietnam and India’s northeastern region to strengthen cooperation, including the close distance and many geographic similarities, especially as the two countries are promoting their strategic partnership.
However, the diplomat also emphasised the need to further enhance connectivity in order to expand cooperation between the region and Vietnam in particular and ASEAN in general.
The summit, which ended on January 22, discussed issues related to the Indian government’s development strategies for its northeastern region which has a great tourism and economic potential, especially in mining, infrastructure, agriculture, and food processing.
The northeast region consists of eight states with a total area of 262,230 square kilometres and a 40 million population. It borders Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China .
The Indian government plans to attract foreign investment to turn the region into an international economic and trade hub, a gateway to ASEAN and East Asia, in order to promote the country’s “Look East” policy.
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