Vietnam always creates favorable conditions for Indian firms as well as West Bengal State to invest into the country’s information technology, electricity, oil and gas, coal, steel and metallurgy sectors, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at his talks with West Bengal Governor Budhatdev Bhattcharya in Kolkata City July 4.
Dung, his wife and entourages including 13 ministers and deputy ministers started a two-day working visit to India on Wednesday to boost bilateral cooperation in the fields of politics, economics, trade, investment, security, defense, culture, education, and science and technology.
At the meeting the West Bengal governor said their firms are eager to invest in aquaculture and milk processing projects in Vietnam. He also invited Vietnamese business executives who accompanied Dung to link up with the West Bengal Chamber of Commerce in sponsoring an annual trade fair in his state.
In West Bengal, Dung also attended a Vietnam-India business forum where he called on Indian industrial giants to invest in Vietnam in the fields that directly relate to their strengths. The forum attracted nearly 300 Indian businesses and 100 Vietnamese partners.
Dung later witnessed a signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
On the same day, Dung visited the headquarters of the Tata Steel Group, which is investing in Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh province.
The Vietnamese delegation also met with a delegation of the India-Vietnam Friendship Association led by its chairman Geetesh Sharma and paid a floral tribute to a monument dedicated to Viet Nam's President Ho Chi Minh that is located in Kolkata city.
Prime Minister Dung will go on to visit Mumbai and New Delhi, hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, pay a courtesy visit to President Abdul Kalam, meet with Indian Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and BJP President Shri LK Advani, and toured some industrial bases in India.
The two-way trade between Vietnam and India rises by 20 per cent a year on average, from US$75 million in 1995 to over US$1 billion in 2006. Both sides are working closely to reduce Vietnam's trade deficit and to increase the value of two-way trade to US$2 billion by 2010.
Vietnam is now the most attractive investment destination of Indian firms among ASEAN member countries. In 2006, Indian businesses poured US$580 million into Vietnam. (Local sources)
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