Vietnam wants to double its bilateral trade with India to 5 billion USD in the next three years, said a Vietnamese official.

According to Pham Viet Thich, head of a Vietnamese trade mission, who is on a visit to India ’s Mumbai city, two-way trade between Vietnam and India reached 2.5 billion USD in 2008 and the figure is expected to increase to 5 billion USD in 2012.

He said that the trade mission’s visit aims to raise Vietnam ’s import-export values with India , call on Indian companies to set up joint ventures with Vietnamese partners and strengthen cooperation in technological transfer.

The Vietnamese government wishes to strengthen trade ties with India in the fields of mechanical engineering, chemicals and construction, Thich said, adding that the government has recently zoned off 900ha of space for a joint venture between India ’s Tata Group and the Vietnam Cement and Steel Corporations to implement a 5 billion USD project.

Tata, the world’s sixth largest steel producer, which holds 65 percent of the project’s capital, plans to kick off construction on a 4.5 million tonne-per-year steel factory in Vietnam right after being licensed.

In October 2009, the Indian Government approved a nearly 150 million USD investment plan of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), a subsidiary of the State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), to increase gas production in Vietnam . The Indian company started producing gas for commercial purpose from this project in January 2003.

At present, OVL owns 45 percent of the project’s profits while an UK oil and gas company holds 35 percent and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, 20 percent.

Gujarat-based Mundra Port Company is negotiating with the Vietnamese Government to build a port in the country./.