The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the Exim Bank implemented a project “Capacity Building of the MSMEs in North-East India for Export Competitiveness” across the handloom, handicraft, and Agro sectors. A two-day Global Buyer-Seller Meet was inaugurated on the 24th and 25th of March and planned as a closed group meet with limited people and focused meetings between buyers and sellers. The main objective of the event was to create more and more businesses for people in North-East India to help alleviate their business brands on a big national platform and export effectively. The initiative provided a platform to showcase products and services of North Eastern states in various sectors.

“I feel very happy and proud to attend such an event. Through such events, I aim to provide a strong platform to sellers and entrepreneurs’ booths apart from showcasing business opportunities available in India. The event would be providing a platform for one-to-one interaction between the entrepreneurs of North-East, the remainder of India. I am sure that the two-day event will fulfil our mission and vision. I thank Mr. Raut, Sudeep Kodialbail & Milind Bharti for inviting me to such meets.” said Gopesh Khandelwal, CEO – The Asian Bamboo Co.

“The highlights of the meet include strengthening the export ecosystem; build and enhance the technical know-how; strengthen managerial capacities and business acumen; Develop knowledge ecosystems and preserve the indigenous wisdom of local communities. The sectors which focused on the meet were Agriculture, Medicinal Plants & Herbal Products, Handloom & Handicrafts, Bamboo and Textiles. North East is extremely rich in biodiversity and agriculture and horticulture products alongside tea, tourism, and handloom and handicraft are the most important strength. The Covid pandemic has negatively impacted the world economy but in recent times, the Indian economy is recovering very fast. This is the first initiative taken by the UNDP for the foreign and domestic trade of the North East, along with the neighbouring countries is centuries old. The geopolitical interest overshadowed the trade matters but now we should go back to ancient times and redraw the map and facilitate this trend of meeting to create an economy,” he said.

Gopesh Khandelwal believes that events like buyer-seller meet in Guwahati are necessary to diversify business interests. You get fresh outlooks on things that you never indulged yourself before in. He further explains that starting a business with diverse ideas at such young age has proven a boon to him as it gave him enough space to tackle hurdles one by one and any mistakes that are made, don’t affect as much as they would later. It helps in networking as well as bringing new clients and global buyers.