Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung addresses the forum (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – A Vietnam-India Business Forum took place in Hanoion November 19, as part of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind’s State visit toVietnam.
The event was jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI), the Indian Embassy in Vietnam, and the IndianIndustries Association.
Addressing the forum, Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister TrinhDinh Dung stressed that this important forum offers a precious chance for thetwo business communities to review their cooperation results over the past 46years, and seek new cooperation opportunities, thus helping boost and deepenthe Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership.
Dung said the bilateral relations, founded by late PresidentHo Chi Minh and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and nurtured by generations ofleaders and peoples, have developed sustainably.
Political trust has been consolidated constantly through high-levelvisits and meetings, while economic, trade and investment cooperation hasproduced impressive results.
India is now one of the ten largest trade partners ofVietnam. Two-way trade has increased year after year to 7.63 billion USD in2017. The figure hit 8.3 billion USD in the first nine months of 2018, ayear-on-year rise of 47.1 percent. The two countries are working towards a goalof 15 billion USD in bilateral trade in the coming time.
In terms of investment, as of late September, India’s totalinvestments in Vietnam were 877 million USD, with 201 projects, making thecountry to rank 29th out of 129 nations and territories pouring capital intoVietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam is currently running eight projects worth 6.16million USD in India.
To raise two-way trade to 15 billion USD, Dung suggestedboth sides intensify investment in the fields that India has strength andVietnam has demand, expand aviation and maritime connectivity, reduce and stepand step remove trade barriers, and facilitate import-export activities.
It is essential to boost people-to-people exchange tostrengthen mutual understanding and collaboration.
Vietnam hopes Indian investors to expand investment in theVietnamese market, Dung said, recommending that renewable energy,manufacturing, information technology and infrastructure are the fields thatIndia has strength and Vietnam has demand.
Initiatives like “Make in India”, “Digital India”, and “100smart cities” and India’s achievements in knowledge economy will createnumerous cooperation opportunities for the two countries’ businesses, theDeputy PM stressed.
The Deputy PM held that the two sides should set up dialoguemechanisms among businesses and between the business community and government,thus giving chance for them to share strategy and vision on developmentcooperation.
Businesses of both sides should become more active inpromoting partnership, he said.
He underlined that Vietnam and India should shareinformation and experience in maritime strategy building.
He expressed his belief that the comprehensive strategicpartnership between the two countries will further develop, while calling onbusiness communities of both sides to become pioneers in bilateral cooperationand economic affiliation.
For his part, President Ram Nath Kovind said that Vietnamand India are special friends with similar economic vision and approach.
He congratulated Vietnam on great socio-economicachievements and impressive growth over the past two decades, with the povertyrate falling from 70 percent in the 1990s to under 10 percent currently.
He asserted that the surge in per capita GDP from 100 USD in the 1990s to 2,500USD today is a considerable attainment that only few developing countries canmake.
The Indian leader said that his country is focusing onreforming its economy and opimising the potential of the people. India’s GDPgrowth has reached 8.2 percent, the highest among big economies in the world.In 2025, the country’s GDP is expected to reach 5 trillion USD, doubling thecurrent figure.
With effective solutions to digital connection, economicreform, population control and favourable environment for startup, India hopesto become the third largest consuming market in the world in 2025, he said,adding that the country has started building new generation infrastructure with100 smart cities and seven high-speed railway corridors, along with broad-bandconnections.
Last year, India constructed 10,000km of national highwayand reformed its tax system, helping it move 65 spaces to the 77th position inbusiness environment index of the World Bank from the 142nd place in 2014. Itsinflation was kept at 3.3 percent, while foreign currency reserve was 400billion USD.
The Indian President showed his optimism in the partnershipprospect between the two countries, holding that businesses of both sides have greatchances of cooperation in information technology, digital economy, hydrocarbon,renewable energy, health care, and civil aviation.
India hopes to learn from Vietnam’s experience in urbaninfrastructure development, tourism, startup and innovation, he said.
Highlighting the significance of agricultural cooperation,he said that agricultural production, processing, medicine, and biotechnologyare promising areas for bilateral cooperation.
As the third largest medicine producer in the world, Indiacan help Vietnam improve health care service quality and provide cheapermedicine for people, he said, adding that many Indian medical companies plan toopen their production factories in Vietnam.-VNA
VNA
