A senior business delegation from the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will make a field trip to Vietnam from Oct. 3-13 to seek out opportunities for cooperation and investment, according to the Indian Embassy in Hanoi.

Under the plan, the 50-member delegation will take part in Vietnamese-Indian Business Forums in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City .

The Indian participants at the two forums include investors, manufacturers and traders in various sectors such as power, iron and steel, gems and jewellery , infrastructure and civil engineering, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, textiles, automobile components, defence -related communications equipment, food processing, construction materials, shipping and logistics.

The forums will provide a huge opportunity for the business communities of both countries to interact with each other and discuss trade and investments. It will be allow the authorities from various provinces to promote their potential for investments.

Apart from attending the forums, the Indian firms will be organising the Indian stand at the 2009 Hanoi Expo. It will consist of 20 booths and showcase the products of 15 companies from India and five others operating in Vietnam.

Economic cooperation between Vietnam and India has seen significant developments, nearly 40 years after the two countries first established diplomatic ties.

In recent years, two-way trade has maintained a growth of 20 percent a year. Vietnam’s exports to India are mainly iron, coal, pepper, footwear, rubber, wood and tea, while it imports machinery, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, and garments.

Vietnam ’s export turnover to India reached nearly 387 million USD in 2008, a year-on-year increase of 46 percent. However, this figure dropped by 14 percent to nearly 222 million USD in the first eight months of this year due to the impacts of the global financial crisis.

India currently has 35 foreign direct investment projects in the country, with a total registered capital of over 200 million USD and ranks 29th out of the 88 nations and territories that invest in Vietnam./.