New Delhi, Dec 17 On the occasion of the official visit to the Republic of India from December 15 to 19, 2021 of Vuong Dinh Hue, President of the National Assembly at the invitation of H.E. Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, Chairman of Rajya Sabha and H.E. Mr. OM Birla, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Parliament of India; the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Viet Nam coordinates with the Embassy of Vietnam and the Confederation of Indian Industry to organize the “Vietnam India Business Forum” on December 17, 2021.
The event is graced by the President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue and joined by Deputy Ministers, leaders of National Assembly Standing Committees, Government officers, Chairman of Provincial People’s Committee and a large Vietnam business delegation.
Discussed issues of mutual interest during my interaction with Chairman of National Assembly of Vietnam Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue. Vietnam has an important place in India's Act-East policy. Vietnam's role is important in our Indo-Pacific vision. We agreed to enhance mutual cooperation. pic.twitter.com/cM0YeMCeox
— Lok Sabha Speaker (@loksabhaspeaker) December 16, 2021
The event also welcomes the auspicious presence of Chandrajit Banerjee, Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry; Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer of National Institution for Transforming India; Suresh Prabhu, member of Rajya Sabha, also former Minister of Commerce and Industry of India; and about 150 businesses with over 200 entrepreneurs including large corporations such as ONGC, Essar, Hinduja, Bharat Biotech, Adani, Trivitron, Biocon, HCL, Indian Oil from the Indian side.
Before the forum, the President of the National Assembly along with the high-ranking delegation has one-on-one meetings with the leaders of ONGC, Essar, HCL, Bharat Biotech, Hinduja…
Vietnam and India have a long-standing traditional relationship that has been cultivated by the leaders of both countries. India and Vietnam established Diplomatic Relations in 1972, Strategic Partnership in 2007 and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016. Trade and investment cooperation is one of the main pillars of bilateral relations. In terms of investment, India has 315 active projects in Vietnam with a total investment capital of nearly 1 billion USD, ranking 26th out of 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
The capital mainly focuses on the processing and manufacturing industries (accounting for 54.5%). In terms of trade, the two-way turnover in the first 10 months of 2021 reaches nearly 11 billion USD, up by nearly 40% y-o-y and surpasses the total trade turnover of 2020. India is currently among the top 10 biggesttrading partners of Vietnam while Vietnam is India’s fourth-largest trading partner in ASEAN.
Trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and India has achieved positive results in recent years, but it is still modest and not commensurate with the potential and advantages of both sides. The economies of the two countries have many similarities, which can support and complement each other for mutual development. Specifically, India can become a supplier of input materials, for Vietnam in industries such as textiles and garments, shoes and leather, and machine manufacturing…; at the same time, creating more favorable conditions for Vietnamese products, such as consumer goods, electronics, agricultural and aquatic products, wood products, rubber…, to penetrate deeply the Indian market. Besides, Vietnam also offers a wide scope for cooperation and mutual support in the fields of textiles and garments, high-tech agriculture, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information technology, energy, infrastructure and mining.
It is affirming that Vietnam is enforcing many reforms to attract foreign investment, in line with OECD standards, which are: (1) maintaining socio-political and macroeconomic stability; (2) removing bottlenecks of the economy in terms of legal institutions, infrastructure and human resources; (3) developing supply chains and reducing transaction costs, especially logistics and administrative costs; (4) building a stable policy environment, which is highly predictable, with transparent implementation and greater accountability.
At the forum, many MOUs aresigned/exchanged between Vietnamese and Indian enterprises in the fields of public health, provision of pharmaceutical materials, drug and vaccine production, oil and gas, information technology and technology transfer, education, and tourism
Following the second session of the Conference, businesses of the two countries can participate in a B2B program to exchange information and seek opportunities for cooperation.