NEW DELHI: Union Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Trade Ministers of ASEAN countries along with ASEAN Secretary General will jointly inaugurate the India-ASEAN Expo and Summit on Thursday.
The fourth India-ASEAN Expo and Summit, to be held on February 21-13, is a flagship event of Department of Commerce, being organised with FICCI to carry forward the momentum and to further strengthen India-ASEAN relations under the Act-East Policy.
Key speakers from the Indian side include Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry CR Chaudhary and Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
The Summit will build upon the success of the previous edition of ASEAN-India Business and Investment Meet and Expo which was held in 2018 as a precursor to India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit.
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Cambodia and Brunei. India’s relationship with ASEAN is a key pillar of country’s foreign policy and the foundation of our Act-East Policy.
India-ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being the second largest trading partner of India, after China, with a total bilateral merchandise trade of USD 81.33 billion.
Trade Ministers of ASEAN Countries, Secretary General of ASEAN and business delegations will participate in the New Delhi Expo and Summit. The Summit is a platform for the policy makers, industry captains and business leaders to come together and forge a common vision for India and ASEAN’s mutual growth and progress.
There will be various Plenary Sessions on sectoral engagements with ASEAN which will be attended by the Ministers and other eminent delegates from ASEAN and India. The Expo component of the event will have India and ASEAN Country Pavilions.
As many as 200 plus exhibitors from India and ASEAN, and more than 100 buyers from ASEAN are expected to participate in the Expo. B2B and B2G meetings are also being organised.
There will also be buyer-seller meetings to provide business leaders an opportunity to closely interact with their counterparts and consolidate B2B and B2G relations.
The exposition will showcase the best initiatives of the business and industry from India and ASEAN countries across various sectors of mutual cooperation such as Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Manufacturing & Engineering, ICT, healthcare, tourism, environment, agriculture, science & technology, finance & banking, logistics and retail.
The Expo and Summit will bring Indian and ASEAN businesses together to work jointly towards integrating them into regional value chains, thereby promoting mutual trade and investment.
(AGENCIES)