At the meeting (Photo: VNA)Smita Pant, the Indianconsul general in HCM City, said An Giang and other provinces in the MekongDelta region possess certain advantages in farming and processing, especiallyof basa.
Vietnamese fisheriesproducts are exported to many markets and India is a huge market with apopulation of 1.2 billion.
The Indian Governmentoffers incentives to foreign investors in aquaculture and seafood processing,especially in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu states, she said.
She called on An Giangto send a delegation of leading seafood firms to the three states to do marketresearch and explore investment opportunities, especially in projects toproduce basa brood stock.
Ramesh Anand, managingdirector of Canopus Inter-Trade Pte Ltd, said the Indian market also offersgood opportunities for An Giang firms to export basa products.
Vietnamese basa fishfillet is already available at many five-star hotels in India, he said.
Seafood demand is quitehigh in India, but businesses need to offer competitive prices, he said.
Nguyen Thanh Binh, DeputyChairman of the An Giang People’s Committee, said his province is strong inagriculture, with rice, fish, fruits, and vegetables being the key items.
The province would senda delegation to India to study the market and boost exports of basa and investin aquaculture, he told the media on the sidelines of the event.
Besides its traditionalmarkets, the province also seeks to boost basa exports to other markets withhigh demand, including India, he said.
The An Giang and Indianbusinesses also discussed co-operation in IT, agro-chemicals, vegetables andfruits, human resource training, and tourism.
An Giang Universitysought tie-ups for training IT engineers to international standards, carryingout research into the internet of things for agriculture, e-governance andothers and exchanging students and researchers.
The province soughtIndian investment in tourism, especially in developing four- and five-staraccommodation, theme parks, cuisine areas, and trade and convention centres.
Binh said trade betweenthe province and India was worth nearly 8 million USD in 2016, with theprovince’s exports accounting for more than 2 million USD.
The numbers are modest,and there is room for much greater trade ties, he said.
Such interactions are agood opportunity for businesses from the two sides to exchange information andexplore opportunities, he added. - VNA
VNA
