Hanoi(VNA) – Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien received Indian Ambassadorto Vietnam Sandeep Arya in Hanoi on February 14, during which Dien proposedthat the Indian side speed up the opening of its market for Vietnamese farm produceand fresh fruits.

Highlighting thatVietnam is rich in tropical fruits, but only dragon fruit has reached the Indianmarket, Minister Dien asked for the Indian diplomat’s support in hastening the importlicencing process for Vietnamese fruits, initially longan, pomelo, rambutan anddurian, and then for others such as avocado, coconut, watermelon and strawberry.

The Vietnameseofficial raised concerns about India's policy measures in recent years, includingthose against peppercorn, cashew nuts and incense sticks of Vietnam,underlining that the measures may hinder trade activities between the twosides.

He suggested that the Indian ambassador convey these concerns of Vietnam inparticular and ASEAN countries in general to relevant authorities, while seeking suitable solutions onthe basis of regulations and commitments in multilateral framework, ensuringthe legitimate interests of all parties.

Dien hailed the role of the ambassador in promoting the partnership between thetwo countries, especially in trade, industry and energy. He expressed his hope thatthe diplomat will make greater contributions to the growth of theVietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership in the time to come.

Both sides shared delight at the expanding bilateral economic, trade andinvestment cooperation over the years, with India becoming the largest investorsand trade partners of Vietnam in the South Asian region.

However, two-way trade reached only 15 billion USD in 2022, up 13.6% year onyear but accounting for only 2% of the total trade of Vietnam andthe world, they noted.

They held that with the sound political and diplomatic relations, highcooperation potential and large international scale of both sides, there is still room for both sides to further promote their bilateral trade.

Dien asked for India’sclose coordination in preventing the disruption of the supply and productionchain in the region and the world.

The two sides should increasetrade promotion programmes and activities to connect businesses of the twocountries, Dien said.

For his part, Ambassador Sandeep Arya said that Vietnam is the most importanttrade partner of India among the ASEAN countries, and the Vietnamese and Indianeconomies can supplement each other. Vietnam is also India’s important partnerwithin its Indo-Pacific Vision and Act East Policy, he said.

He spoke highly of economic cooperation potential between the two countries,especially in renewable energy, oil and gas, information technology, digitaleconomy and pharmaceuticals, which will lead to abundant collaboration opportunitiesbetween the two sides at present and in the future.

The diplomat agreed with measures to strengthen the bilateral economic andtrade ties proposed by Dien, especially those on preventing the disruption ofsupply chain, strengthening trade promotion and expanding the trade of farmproduce.

Regarding India's trade-restrictive policy measures, Ambassador Sandeep Arya pledged that he will discuss the issue withrelevant Indian agencies to seek positive solutions.

As both sides arepreparing for high-level visit exchange in 2023, they should promptlydeal with existing problems in bilateral economic and trade partnership, heunderlined.

He agreed to organisethe next meeting of the Vietnam-India joint sub-committee on trade cooperationin New Delhi in the first half of 2023 before the organisation of theVietnam-India Joint Committee’s meeting and visits of leaders of the twocountries this year./.