Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh addresses the conference (Photo: VNA) New Delhi (VNA) – VietnameseAmbassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh stated that he is optimistic that Vietnam-Indiabilateral trade will hit 15 billion USD by 2020, during his remarks at the internationalconference “India-Vietnam: Strengthening Economic Ties” in New Delhi on July 26-27.
The workshop was co-organised by the VietnameseEmbassy in India and the Centre for Vietnamese Studies in India at the NehruMemorial Museum and Library, with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry ShriSuresh Prabhu and Minister of State for External Affairs V. K. Singh inattendance.
Thanh highlighted economic cooperation as oneof the five pillars of the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,which was set up during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi toVietnam in September 2016.
During the visit of President Tran Dai Quangand Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to India earlier this year, leaders of bothsides called for concerted efforts to boost bilateral economic relations, inparticular elevating bilateral trade to 15 billion USD by 2020, the diplomatsaid.
He expressed his confidence that the goal wouldbe achieved for the three following reasons. Firstly, Vietnam and India boast astrong political foundation, facilitating the expansion of economic ties.Secondly, both Vietnam and India have posted robust economic growth in recenttimes, creating many opportunities for economic cooperation. Lastly, bilateraleconomic ties have already progressed well over the past few years and arelikely to continue doing so, he explained.
Last year, bilateral trade amounted to 7.7billion USD, an increase of 42 percent from the previous year. In the firsthalf of 2018, the figure rose by 48 percent year-on-year to 5.44 billion USDand, if this trend continues, it can reach 11 billion USD by the end of thisyear, Thanh noted.
From January to June, Indian investors haveinjected approximately 876 million USD into 190 projects in Vietnam, ayear-on-year increase of 29 percent.
Tourist arrivals from India to Vietnam haverisen an average of 17 percent year-on-year since 2010. Some 150,000 Indiantravellers are expected to visit Vietnam and some 70,000 Vietnamese will travelto India this year.
However, the Vietnamese ambassador noted that thereare many opportunities for economic cooperation between the two countries thathave yet to be tapped. He cited the fact that two-way trade remains modestcompared to the 425 billion USD in Vietnam’s total foreign trade and India’s781 billion USD last year. The number accounted for less than 10 percent oftrade between India and ASEAN nations.
Of the 22 million Indian people travellingabroad last year, 3.5 million visited Southeast Asia but only 110,000 came toVietnam. Meanwhile, Indian arrivals to Thailand totalled 1.6 million, he said.
He expected that the conference would provide insightto help Vietnam and India foster their bilateral ties in trade, investment, andtourism in the time ahead.
For his part, Minister of State for ExternalAffairs V. K. Singh said the two nations possess huge potential to expandcooperation in the fields of pharmaceuticals, health care, petroleum, renewableenergy, agriculture, tourism, textile and garments, leather, and mining.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhureferred to Vietnam as one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN and as abridge between India and other member countries of the bloc. The two sides haveestablished strong partnership in oil exploitation, manufacturing, defence, andservices.
At the conference, attendees focused theirdiscussion around several topics, including: “India-Vietnam Bilateral Trade:Issues and Prospects”, “Infrastructure and Development Partnership betweenIndia and Vietnam”, “Energy Cooperation between India and Vietnam”, “ExploringIndia-Vietnam Economic Realities and Business Culture”, “Improvement in India-VietnamRegional Value Chain”, “Made-in-India Scheme and Opportunities for Vietnam”,and “India-Vietnam Economic Cooperation in the Context of Trade Agreements andPartnerships”. –VNA
The workshop was co-organised by the VietnameseEmbassy in India and the Centre for Vietnamese Studies in India at the NehruMemorial Museum and Library, with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry ShriSuresh Prabhu and Minister of State for External Affairs V. K. Singh inattendance.
Thanh highlighted economic cooperation as oneof the five pillars of the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,which was set up during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi toVietnam in September 2016.
During the visit of President Tran Dai Quangand Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to India earlier this year, leaders of bothsides called for concerted efforts to boost bilateral economic relations, inparticular elevating bilateral trade to 15 billion USD by 2020, the diplomatsaid.
He expressed his confidence that the goal wouldbe achieved for the three following reasons. Firstly, Vietnam and India boast astrong political foundation, facilitating the expansion of economic ties.Secondly, both Vietnam and India have posted robust economic growth in recenttimes, creating many opportunities for economic cooperation. Lastly, bilateraleconomic ties have already progressed well over the past few years and arelikely to continue doing so, he explained.
Last year, bilateral trade amounted to 7.7billion USD, an increase of 42 percent from the previous year. In the firsthalf of 2018, the figure rose by 48 percent year-on-year to 5.44 billion USDand, if this trend continues, it can reach 11 billion USD by the end of thisyear, Thanh noted.
From January to June, Indian investors haveinjected approximately 876 million USD into 190 projects in Vietnam, ayear-on-year increase of 29 percent.
Tourist arrivals from India to Vietnam haverisen an average of 17 percent year-on-year since 2010. Some 150,000 Indiantravellers are expected to visit Vietnam and some 70,000 Vietnamese will travelto India this year.
However, the Vietnamese ambassador noted that thereare many opportunities for economic cooperation between the two countries thathave yet to be tapped. He cited the fact that two-way trade remains modestcompared to the 425 billion USD in Vietnam’s total foreign trade and India’s781 billion USD last year. The number accounted for less than 10 percent oftrade between India and ASEAN nations.
Of the 22 million Indian people travellingabroad last year, 3.5 million visited Southeast Asia but only 110,000 came toVietnam. Meanwhile, Indian arrivals to Thailand totalled 1.6 million, he said.
He expected that the conference would provide insightto help Vietnam and India foster their bilateral ties in trade, investment, andtourism in the time ahead.
For his part, Minister of State for ExternalAffairs V. K. Singh said the two nations possess huge potential to expandcooperation in the fields of pharmaceuticals, health care, petroleum, renewableenergy, agriculture, tourism, textile and garments, leather, and mining.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhureferred to Vietnam as one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN and as abridge between India and other member countries of the bloc. The two sides haveestablished strong partnership in oil exploitation, manufacturing, defence, andservices.
At the conference, attendees focused theirdiscussion around several topics, including: “India-Vietnam Bilateral Trade:Issues and Prospects”, “Infrastructure and Development Partnership betweenIndia and Vietnam”, “Energy Cooperation between India and Vietnam”, “ExploringIndia-Vietnam Economic Realities and Business Culture”, “Improvement in India-VietnamRegional Value Chain”, “Made-in-India Scheme and Opportunities for Vietnam”,and “India-Vietnam Economic Cooperation in the Context of Trade Agreements andPartnerships”. –VNA
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