The Act East Policy places the North Eastern Region (NER) at the centre of India’s engagement with Southeast Asia. A central focus of the Act East Policy is development of cross-border connectivity infrastructure. The India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway and Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project are flagship projects under this framework.

The Act East Policy has also strengthened trade linkages between the Northeast and Southeast Asia through development of Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) and Border Haats.

 The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project consists of Waterway component and road component.

• • The waterway component has been completed and inaugurated in May, 2023.
  • Road component consists of two lane highway (109 km long) from Paletwa (Myanmar) to Zorinpui, Mizoram.

The India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway has two parts:

• Road construction in Tamu - Kalewa Highway has been completed and handed over to Govt. of Myanmar in 2009.
• Construction of Kalewa-Yargi highway-section from km 112 to km 60 is complete and handed over to Government of Myanmar in October 2025.

A High-level Task force (HLTF) was constituted, in 2025, on the North East Economic Corridor (NEEC) with a mandate to assess the existing economic, infrastructure and investment ecosystem in NER; to identify critical gaps in physical connectivity, trade facilitation and sectoral investments; and to formulate strategies to attract public and private sector investments in NEEC projects. The report of the HLTF on NEEC was presented in the 73^rd Plenary of North East Council in June, 2026.

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) organized Rising Northeast Investors Summit in May, 2025 to catalyze trade and investment in NER. The focus sectors of the summit identified for attracting investment in NER were Tourism and Hospitality; Agro-Food Processing & allied sectors; Textiles, Handloom and Handicrafts; Healthcare; Education and Skill Development; IT/ITeS; Entertainment & Sports; Infrastructure and Logistics; and Energy. Collectively, the Summit and its pre-event roadshows garnered investment interests of ₹4.48 lakh crore through Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), letters of intent, and qualified leads from private investors, public sector undertakings, and major industrial conglomerates.

North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) plays a pivotal role in strengthening the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector and entrepreneurship developmentin NER by providing financial support for industrial, infrastructure, agri-allied projects, government schemes and institutional support. NEDFi also supports startup ecosystem of NER through North East Venture Fund.

This information was given by the Minister of State of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region Dr. Sukanta Majumdar in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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