Big Indian corporations have pledged to increase their investments to over US$1 billion into Vietnam this year, mainly in the fields of steel and oil and gas, at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai City of Maharastra State July 5.
They also said the figure is also expected to hit US$2 billion next year. In the first six months of this year Vietnam licensed two big Indian-investred projects with total registered capital of nearly $600 million. In 2006, Indian businesses poured $580 million into Vietnam.
Mumbai City, the leading industrial hub of India, is the second leg of Dung’s visit to India after Kolkata City of West Bengal State. Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is a trade and entertainment center of India, in which many big financial groups such as RBI, BSE, and NSE have their headquarters.
At the meeting, leaders of the giants such as ONGC, Reliance, Gail, Aditya Birla, Satyam, Infosys, and NIIT affirmed that Vietnam is one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investors.
These groups are operating in the areas of oil and gas exploitation, petrochemistry, information technology, telecommunications, pharmacy, and other hi-tech industries.
The Vietnamese Prime Minister praised Indian future and existing projects by ONGC, Essar, Tata, NIIT, Ranbaxy, and JP Morgan, which have helped their country become one of the ten biggest foreign investors in Vietnam. He also pledged to further open door for Indian investors.
On the same day, Dung attended a Vietnam-India business forum in Hilton Tower in the city and visited the nerve-centre of Reliance Infocomm (Reliance Knowledge City). In West Bengal July 4, Dung attended another business forum, which attracted nearly 300 Indian businesses and 100 Vietnamese partners, to call for more investment into Vietnam.
Speaking at the business forum Thursday, the Vietnamese leader reaffirmed around 300 Indian firms that his government always creates favorable conditions and widely open the door for Indian enterprises to invest in the country, especially in the fields of IT, electricity, oil and gas, energy, metallurgy, coal, transport, agriculture, fisheries, foodstuff processing, healthcare, and pharmacy.
Dung said enterprises of both sides have made great contributions to developing Vietnam-India traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation. The Vietnamese government is trying it utmost to help Vietnamese firms more effectively cooperate with Indian partners.
The Vietnamese delegation visited Reliance Knowledge City in Mumbai, India’s biggest IT and telecom center, in the afternoon of the day.
In New Dehhi capital today, Prime Minisiter Dung will hold talks with his counterpart Manmohan Singh, pay courtesy visit to President Abdul Kalam and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi, and meet with chairman of Lower House Shri Somnach Chatterjee. (Liberated Saigon, Government’s Website)
Vietnamese
