Vietnam and India have huge potential for shipbuilding cooperation, especially while the world’s shipbuilding industry is recovering, Indian Ambassador Ranit-Rae has said.


At a seminar on shipbuilding cooperation between Vietnam and India in Hanoi on March 15, Ambassador Ranit-Rae said India is interested in Vietnam ’s shipbuilding, since the Southeast Asian country boasts a long coastline and low-cost labour -- an ideal potential for developing the industry.

Besides, the restructure of Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) will create conditions for domestic shipbuilding to further develop, he said.

While India has seen outstanding development in the industry and revenue growth of 250 percent between 2002-2010, Vietnam and India have a great chance to cooperate in the field, Ambassador Rae said.

According to the diplomat, the two countries can also strengthen cooperation in technology transfer and support industries for the shipbuilding sector.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said Vinashin had earlier signed an MOU with India ’s Goa shipbuilder in personnel training and expected that through the seminar, the group will have the chance to seek Indian partners to invest in its plan to build a ship repair establishment at Cam Ranh port, in the central province of Khanh Hoa .

He also said he hoped managers and policymakers of the two countries would boost information exchange to increase cooperation./.