The first-ever North East-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Summit kicked off in Imphal, Manipur with the focus on road connectivity, trade and tourism. The two day summit has been organized by Manipur Commerce and Industries Department (MCID) in collaboration with the Union Ministries of External Affairs and Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Indian Chamber of Commerce(ICC) and Indian Chamber of Service Industries(ICSI).

The Summit aims at attracting investment from both domestic and foreign firms to the North-Eastern states to increase productivity and generate employment in the region.

Did You Know?

• Northeast India is the eastern-most region of India.
• It is connected to East India via a narrow corridor squeezed between independent nations of Bhutan and Bangladesh.
• It comprises the contiguous Seven Sister States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura), and the Himalayan state of Sikkim.
• Except for the Goalpara region of Assam, the rest did not become part of political India until the 19th century and later.
• The Brahmaputra valley area of Assam became a part of British India in 1824, with the hill regions annexed later.
• Sikkim was annexed to the Indian union through a referendum in 1975; it was recognized as part of Northeast India in the 1990s.