ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the proposition of northeast India's integration with the East and Southeast Asian countries and the possible gains to the region. It addresses the following questions. How does market integration work? In the past how did internationalisation of the Assam economy work and what lessons could we learn from such experiences? and How have informal and formal trade flows with Southeast Asia in the recent past impacted on the northeast economies? The chapter also addresses: What are the required enabling policy environment and physical infrastructure for trade linkage to yield gains? and What initiatives should the northeast take to maximise the economic gains as and when the vision of its integration with Southeast Asia becomes a reality? The inspired advocacy for the integration of the northeast region with the dynamic Southeast Asian countries could be anchored on the theoretical postulation. It is true that opening up to international trade has helped many countries grow far quickly.
