Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Hai (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the event, Chairman of the FICCI Kerala State Council M. I. Sahadulla reviewed the trade ties between Vietnam and India since 1972 when they established diplomatic ties.
He highlighted similarities between Vietnam and Kerala in pepper, cashew nut and fishery production, and suggested the two sides cooperate in IT, education and health care.
Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Hai affirmed that commerce is one of the five pillars in the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, with two-way trade exceeding 15 billion USD for the first time last year, meeting the target set by their leaders, making India one of the eight leading trade partners of Vietnam.
However, the figure has yet to match potential and expectations of both sides, the diplomat said, adding that India makes up only around 2% of Vietnam’s total trade value, while Vietnam accounts for some 1.5% of India’s.
Vietnamese localities and the Indian state share a lot of similarities and are reciprocal in many sectors, especially agriculture, fishery and IT, he noted.
Do Quoc Hung, deputy head of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Department of Asia-Africa Markets, said Vietnam and Kerala have various cooperation opportunities in navigation and other spheres thanks to their similar climate conditions.
The MoIT and the Trade Office stand ready to help businesses seek cooperation opportunities and address their concern, contributing to promoting trade between Vietnam and India and Kerala in particular, he affirmed./.
VNA
