At the summit (Source: VNA) New Delhi (VNA) – The PHD Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (PHDCCI)of India is hosting the first India-ASEAN Business Summit in New Delhi from November11-12 as part of efforts to enhance cooperation between the country and the SoutheastAsian bloc.
The summit has welcomed the participation of officials and policy makersfrom India and ASEAN member nations, representatives of internationalorganisations and enterprises from the two sides.
It aims to further foster trade and investment collaboration between India andASEAN, and offer an opportunity for the two sides’ enterprises to enhancepartnerships, expand markets and sign cooperation agreements, thus contributingto removing trade barriers.
During working sessions within the framework of the summit, participants havefocused their discussions on the fields of IT, e-commerce and fintech,infrastructure, health and pharmaceuticals, education and skills development,culture and tourism, and agriculture and food processing.
Inhis opening speech, Ajay Poddar, Chairman of the International AffairsCommittee for ASEAN, East Asia & Oceania under PHDCCI, said ASEAN plays avital role in India’s foreign policy, and the ASEAN-India cooperation isextremely important in the context of the global economic depression.
According to Ajay, the connection of the two economies will create a market ofnearly 2 billion people with a total GDP of over 5 trillion USD.
Meanwhile, Thai Ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi said he isoptimistic about prospects for economic growth in India and ASEAN, saying thatthe two regions are among the most dynamic economies in the world.
He said the two sides need to change business methods, enhance transportinfrastructure connection, and apply digital technologies, thus expanding theircooperation.
ASEAN has become one of the biggest trade partners of India. Two-way trade increasedremarkably to nearly 81 billion USD in 2017-2018 from 45.34 billion USD in 2008-2009.The two sides aim to lift trade to 200 billion USD by 2022./.
VNA
