2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations and 5th anniversary of establishment of the Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and India. Vietnam Business Forum had an interview with Mr Ranjit Rae, Ambassador of India to Vietnam, to learn about bilateral trade and investment relations. Yen Mai reports.
Could you please tell us something about your country and people, as well as some outstanding activities on special occasions?
As you know, India is the land of variety with many languages, cultures and religions. Our country has different regions with different traditions, but there is still unity in diversity. The people of India are among the warmest and the most hospitable people in the world.
Like many other countries, we are committed to removing poverty and violence, as well as achieving sustained economic growth and bringing prosperity to people. We are very proud of talking about Mohandas Gandhi who is one of the most famous Indian leaders and is widely considered the father of the nation. His doctrine of non-violent protests to achieve political and social progress has been hugely influential. one of the most famous Indian leaders andis widely considered the father of the nation. His doctrine of non-violent protests to achieve political and social progress has been hugely influential.
Regarding special occasions, there are many Indian festivals celebrated across the country. One of the most important festivals is the New Year that takes place in different parts of the country. It is celebrated as the colour or spring festival in about 30 percent of the community in the North India, while many other places link this occasion to the harvest.Normally, in the New Year Festival, we exchange presents, buy new clothes, give money and gifts to children. People enjoy partying with friends and family members. And the most important is that we pray to our God for wealth, and happiness for the New Year. All this is similar to the New Year Celebration in Vietnam.
What impresses you most about the Tet Festival in Vietnam?
I was in Vietnam for Tet festival last year. It was a great experience with very beautiful orange trees, peach blossom trees and exchanging best wishes and gifts. Hanoi was very quiet and beautiful, not crowded and no traffic jams at all. It was a wonderful occasion for me during the Tet festival in Vietnam.
And the most impressive thing for me during Tet in Vietnam is the manner in which Vietnamese people go to pagoda. It was quite a new experience for me, learning about how you go to pagoda to pray for good luck and happiness. It reminded me of what happens in India in our New Year Celebrations.
Could you tell us about some of the activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam – India diplomatic relations?
1972 was a very important landmark in our bilateral relationship which has grown strongly over the years. India was actively supporting Vietnam and was strongly behind Vietnam. Then, after implementation of economic reforms, popularly known as Doi Moi, many new opportunities for cooperation between the two nations came up in the fields of capacity building, infrastructure development and other areas.
In 2007, we signed the ‘Strategic Partnership’ agreement which was very important, with the aim of taking our relationship to higher than before. We are celebrating next year the ‘Year of Friendship’ between both sides. To date, Vietnam and India have strongly cooperated in many fields of politics, defence, security, trade and investment, culture, education and capacity building.
Thus, to celebrate this significant event, we aim to highlight our cooperation for the benefit of people in both countries. One of the most important initiatives is that we will bring our cultural programs to Vietnam and try to gather all Vietnamese people who studied in India, and there are also other links between the two sides. We also desire to have more academic seminars on important issues of relations between Vietnam and India, as well as business exchanges and business-to-business meetings. All events will be organized not only in Hanoi and HCMC, but also in other cities of Vietnam in order to create more awareness among people in both countries about the benefit of the partnership and create momentum to further develop the strategic partnership.
Furthermore, the friendship year will be launched with a commemorative event on January 6 with the cooperation of the Vietnamese Union of Friendship Organizations in Hanoi. We really hope to get as many Vietnamese students who have studied in India as we can.
What about opportunities for both sides’ businesses during these activities?
One of the most important expectations of our partnership is business to business relationships. Therefore, in Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's official visit to India in October 2011, leaders of the two countries reemphasized that economic and trade cooperation is the core of the bilateral cooperation, and that the two countries will try to increase bilateral trade to US$7 billion in 2015. Thus, we always hope for the most favourable conditions to have more Indian companies invest in Vietnam, as well as encourage Vietnamese companies look for business opportunities in India.
Furthermore, many Indian companies have established representative offices in many areas in Vietnam in various sectors, including agriculture, rubber, coffee, cashew nut, carbon black and tea. Particularly, we also have a US$5 billion steel plant project by Tata Steel in the northern province of Ha Tinh.
In addition, in the year of friendship, we would like to take some initiatives that would bring further development in trade and investment relations. I am very happy to inform you that the Vietnam India Business Forum has been set up by VCCI, the Indian Embassy and Indian Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam, with the aim of creating an active mechanism for further cooperation and enhancing the mutual prosperity, development and friendship of our two nations. Also, it will be a bridge to exchange general information for businesses and other concerned agencies on both sides.
What do you think about the significance of the establishment of the Vietnam Indian Business Forum?
The most important outcome is the commitment of the two sides to step up cooperation. Vietnam and India are very dynamic economies with young populations, so there are more and more opportunities for business. It can be said that the Vietnam India Business Forum has been established at the right time. The Embassy has worked very closely with VCCI because our common goal is to bring more opportunities for both nations’ businesses to work together to promote trade and investment, as well as have joint ventures.
We are delighted to know that VCCI has decided to send at least one business delegation to India every year. Vietnam also has an active consulate general in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. There is a proposal to have a training agreement between HCMC and Mumbai and once that comes through, I think there will be more business contacts. I am also very happy to inform you that Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines have signed a pact for commercial services between India and Vietnam next year. This direct flight partnership between the airlines of Vietnam and India is expected to contribute to developing tourism, as well as boosting investment and trade relations between the two countries.
What should Vietnam and Indian do to promote trade and investment relations?
I think what we need to do is to propose key areas in bilateral relations. The two most important areas are trade and investment cooperation, and culture and education exchange. Thus, we will have many events to promote further exchanges between Vietnam and India in these sectors.
I have already talked about trade and investment cooperation, so I will say something about culture and education cooperation. On the education side, my government has decided to double the number of scholarships that we offer through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programs. These scholarships are for short and medium term courses in various sectors like finance, banking, management, information technology, many engineering and water management related issues.
We have already established one English Language Training Centre in Da Nang city, and hope to establish one more in Hanoi. Also, we have set up the Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Hanoi. In my recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City, we have offered to establish a vocational training centre in the city. In September this year, we negotiated with the People's Committee of Hanoi toinaugurate the Vietnam-India Advanced Resource Centre in Information and Communication Technology with a grant of $2 million. Thus, education exchanges are quite strong.
Besides, the two governments have built up good relations in culture. Recently, we signed the cultural exchange programme for the next 3 years. We have also announced a US$3 million project for conservation and restoration of temples at My Son, and we hope this project will start very soon. We are also looking at the possibility of starting a research project between Vietnamese and Indian scholars on the links between the Cham civilisation and India. Thus, I think this project will highlight the relationship between our two countries. On the side of Buddhism, we have already had many strong exchanges; many Buddhist scholars from Vietnam have gone to India for higher studies and participating in conferences. Just this year, we organized an international conference on Buddhism in Hanoi. Last month, we organized an importantseminar, entitled ‘Life and legacy of Rabindranath Tagore’ on the occasion of his 150th birthday (1861-1941).Rabindranath Tagore translated a collection of his poems entitled ‘Gitanjali from Bengali’ into English and became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in 1913. The Indian government has also announced plans to open a cultural centre in Hanoi, aiming to promote Indian culture and education activities in Vietnam, and we hope very much this centre will be opened next year.
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