At N-E summit, Thailand, Bangladesh promise investments in tourism, power Samudra Gupta Kashyap Posted: Sep 17, 2008 at 0057 hrs IST Guwahati, September 16 Thailand and Bangladesh have promised to come in a big way to the Northeastern region with industry captains and Government representatives from both countries identifying power and tourism sectors as the most potential areas for them to come in. This commitment from the two countries came at the end of the two-day North East Business Summit, the fourth in the series in the past four years that concluded here on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, as many as 247 Expressions of Interest (EoI) were received from 64 companies that are willing to invest in the region. "We have identified at least six areas of investment opportunities in Northeast India, of which power plants, tourism and the service sectors are the most important. I hope investors from Thailand will soon come into this region," Sakchai Luansathitkul of the Thailand Board of Investment told the media. Bangladeshi companies on the other hand have already entered into joint venture with Indian companies to set up three units in Tripura, a paper pulp unit, a rubber factory and a fruit processing plant, informed Farooq Sobhan, former Bangladesh foreign secretary. The Indo-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industries and the Indian Chamber of Commerce signed an agreement on the sidelines of the summit aimed at strengthening business cooperation between the two countries. Sobhan, who was part of the Bangladesh delegation, also hinted that the new Government that would take over in Bangladesh after the December elections would make the Chittagong port accessible to India. The summit, which had delegations from as many as 12 countries, including Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Arab League, Bhutan and the Czech Republic, also evoked a lot of interest among participants in the tourism sector.