State's Environment and Forest Minister, Th Debendra inaugurated a 3 day long International conclave on medicinal plants today at the RIMS Jubilee Hall.  The conclave is being organised by the Department of Forest, Government of Manipur in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Government of India and AYUSH with the support of World Health Organisation (WHO) India chapter and Ministry of DoNE.

Prominent scientists and experts across the country including Sonali Bisht, representative of FAO of UN, over ten international delegates from Laos, Bhutan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Veitnam, Thailand, Brunei and Cambodia have got together for the conclave. This conclave has been organized with a motive to enhance cooperation and give a boost to the sector and trade of medicinal plants among the member countries of ASEAN and BIMSTEC.

Th Debendra said that a cluster of AYUSH industries should be set up at Imphal as it could facilitate easy procurement of raw materials from the whole NE region.
Anita Das, former secretary of Department of AYUSH, Government of India said: "The sector is critically important for the region as it can create sustainable livelihood for the people" she added and called upon the delegates "to put their best effort to deliberate on each aspect of medicinal plants sector and come out with actionable recommendations".

S Singsit, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Manipur said there is resurgence of use of traditional medicine across the globe. According to an estimate of World Health Organisation in 2002, the global market of traditional therapies stands at 60,000 million US dollars and is growing steadily.