Overseas Delegation
ICC as the largest Chamber of Commerce in the East & North-East of India, and one of the most prominent Chambers in the country today, strongly believes India must engage herself more effectively with the world economy, for maximizing the gains arising out of complementarities in trade. The Chamber has been very pro-active in creating meaningful synergies between India and her neighboring countries in South, and South-East Asia, and believes regional economic integration in Asia can lead to enhancements in living standards , reduction in poverty, increase in trade & employment -related benefits and earnings, and improve infrastructural endowments. As a forward-looking Chamber, ICC thinks greater economic engagement between the countries in the ASEAN and BIMSTEC regions can pave the way for Asia rising in the future years. However, the Chamber also strives to cater to the issues related to multi-lateral trade agreements by organizing meaningful interactions and discussions. Over the years, Indian Chamber has taken many prominent overseas delegations to countries in South and South-East Asia, like Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.
These business delegations have been greatly successful in projecting the tremendous economic and business opportunities that India , particularly the East & the North-East of India can offer to these countries, and have facilitated concrete implementations of investment projects.
The Chamber has a very strong focus upon the North-East of India, and feels the North-East can emerge as a natural partner for the South & South-East Asian nations because of factors like locational proximity, huge natural resource base, etc. The Chamber has worked very closely with the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Govt. of India, in the past, and jointly organized the “North-East Trade & Investment Opportunities Week” in Bangkok in 2007, which was the Largest ever Business Delegation from India to Thailand led by the then Honble Minister for DoNER, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar. The Thailand Week led to the signing of various MOU s, of which many turned into real investments. ICCs North-East Initiative witnessed a new momentum with the 3 day “ASEAN - North-East India Trade & Investment Opportunities Summit” between 12th to 14th February, 2009 at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This was the first ever initiative from India to unfold the vast resources of the North Eastern region in Vietnam, and was jointly organized by ICC and the Ministry of DoNER, Govt. of India, in association with the Indian Diplomatic Mission in HCM City, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam. The mega Summit witnessed the participation of a large congregation of Diplomats, Ministers, Captains of Industry and Business persons from North East of India. Minister of Industry and Commerce, Government of LAO PDR, H.E. Dr Nam Viyaketh, Mr. Le Duong Quang, Vice Minister of Vietnam, were present among important Dignitaries. The Vietnam Summit has paved the way for a better mutual understanding, and has strengthened the prospects of increased flow of goods and services between the two countries.
The Chamber has also been instrumental in facilitating sector-specific growth through Delegation exchanges. High-level ICC Delegations have been to Europe several times in the past, for facilitating the growth of the Agro & Processed Food sector. In the recent past, the Chamber took an overseas delegation to SIAL-2008, the worlds leading food industry show during at Paris, France, which explored India-France business & investment opportunities for the Agro & Processed Food industries.
The Chamber strongly believes India must not miss out on the opportunities that globalization extends, and feels people-to-people contacts can do wonders in improving country-to-country economic relations. The Indian Chamber aims to strengthen its role as a facilitator for India enhanced trade linkages with the world, in the coming years.