The two-day North East Trade Facilitation Fair 2020, organised by SELCO Foundation in collaboration with TATA Trusts, was held on February 28 and 29 at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati, Assam.
PD Rai, former MP, Sikkim; Mrinal Choudhary, Additional Director, Assam Energy Development Agency (AEDA); Utpala Saikia, Mission Director, Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM), DP Srivastava, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India graced the first day of the event.
PD Rai, former MP, Sikkim during the exhibition stated that it was an exposition of Make in India where all are striving to follow the sustainable development and network for the young entrepreneurs.
He expressed happiness that the region was getting conscious about innovative products and using renewable energy for employment. He suggested that solutions like dryers, milk chiller and biodigestor etc. using energy, which are on display, can reduce the cost of entrepreneurs significantly.
The fair showcased over 70 scalable sustainable energy driven livelihood technologies which was demonstrated by small and medium enterprises. Marking the first edition of the fair, Harish Hande, CEO, SELCO Foundation said, there are many upcoming enterprises in the northeast which are pushing for the cause of development and sustainability. He said the trade fair was an ideal window for the world to know their presence and will be a platform for them to leap from. “We are hosting this Fair to encourage rural enterprises and entrepreneurs to demonstrate solutions to relevant stakeholders across India to scale decentralized sustainable solutions,” said the CEO.
The trade fair was aimed to maintain the exchange between livelihood technology providers and lean energy solution providers. Around 4000 people from government, non-government, industry, manufacturers, innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, NGOs, industry bodies, farmer-producer groups, financiers and varied livelihood end-user segments attended the trade fair.