Vietnam, India Have Wide Room for Cooperation Expansion

The 6th India-CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave: Building Bridges for Constructive Development was organized on 3-4 December virtually.

The event was designed to enable businesses from India and CLMV countries, especially Vietnam, to showcase products and services through a virtual exhibition, and to provide a platform for interaction with the government bodies, and public and private industry players in the region.

Potential cooperation

At the Plenary Session on Vietnam - India Cooperation within the 6th India- CLMV Business Conclave, Mr. Bui Trung Nghia - Deputy Secretary General of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), emphasized that Vietnam has remained a promising destination for investment. According to investment data, by the beginning of 2020, India had more than 240 valid investment projects in Vietnam, investing more than US$900 million, focusing mainly on mining, oil and gas, mineral processing, IT, agriculture products, etc.

Mr. Nghia added, the two countries witnessed two-way trade turnover of over US$8 billion in the first 10 months of the year, equal to the same period last year, demonstrating the great efforts of the two Governments and the business communities. We believe that Governments of the two countries will continue to create favorable conditions to support businesses of the two countries to strengthen exchanges, connections and cooperation to bring the trade values to US$15 billion - US$20 billion as targeted.

India has always been in the top 10 largest trading partners of Vietnam and is the most important partner of Vietnam in South Asia. Vietnam is the fourth largest trading partner of India in ASEAN, said Mr. Nghia.

For Vietnam, India always plays an important role in political, economic, and trade relations. The two countries have established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2016. Vietnam appreciates India's Act East policy, focusing on ASEAN and especially the CLMV region. In recent years, this policy has been effectively implemented by the Government of India, strengthening cooperation between India and the CLMV region in general and with Vietnam in particular.

Solutions to boost trade values

Mr. Nghia recommended some solutions that should be taken to promote bilateral trade amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Promoting online activities such as online business matching, online trading, online exchange. The use of e-commerce and technology in management and transactions should also be encouraged to enhance trade promotion activities with the strong support and close coordination of government agencies, associations, and businesses of the two countries to improve the efficiency and quality of the event, thereby improving the promotion of businesses’ images and products.

Besides, Deputy General Secretary Nghia noted that State management agencies of the two countries need to work closely to eliminate or remove non-tariff barriers, especially on agricultural and aquatic products as well as industrial commodities in order to create the most favorable conditions for import and export activities.

“I hope that the Governments, promotion organizations, associations and businesses of the two countries will come up with many ideas and solutions to overcome difficulties and bring trade and investment relations between the two countries to a new level,” Mr. Nghia recommended.

By Huong Ly, Vietnam Business Forum