HCM City (VNA) - Trade and investment ties between Vietnam and Indiaare not commensurate with their potential, meaning there is still a lot of roomfor them to grow, the India-Vietnam Business Forum heard in Ho Chi Minh City onAugust 21.

A 12-member delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) led byJoseph Michael Kallivayalil, which is visiting Vietnam to explore opportunitiesfor economic engagement, investment and trade, took part in the forum.

Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’sHCM City branch, said the event, with the participation of leadingIndian players in the field of infrastructure construction, informationtechnology, aviation, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, medicalequipment and rubber, is a good opportunity for businesses from the twocountries to acquire useful information about trade and investmentrelations between the two sides, and find business opportunities.

India and Vietnam are both dynamic and rapidly developingeconomies in Asia, he said, adding trade between the two countries reached 10.69 billion USD last year, ayear-on-year increase of 40 percent and they target 15 billion USD by 2020.

Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma said Indian investments in Vietnamare worth around 1.7 billion USD, including investments routed through thirdcountries. They are mostly in energy, mineral exploration, agro-processing,sugar manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT and auto components.

The Indian government is encouraging Indian companies to invest in Vietnam, hesaid, adding that Indian has set up a project development fund with a corpus offive billion Indian rupees (80 million USD) for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnamto facilitate Indian investment and broaden the manufacturing base of Indiancompanies in the region.

Kallivayalil highlighted key areas in which businesses from the two countriescould enhance cooperation like education, agriculture, manufacturing,electronics, logistics and construction equipment.

In education, for instance, there is a need to promote tie-ups betweenuniversities and academic institutions in the two countries for faculty,research and skill exchanges.

In manufacturing, he said that Vietnam offers tremendous opportunities in themanufacturing sector. India needs to properly understand its investment lawsand taxation policies to facilitate investment from India.

There is a need to strengthen logistics services between the two countries.India can also access many products manufactured in third countries from Vietnamat competitive prices and with lesser transportation costs, he added.

The forum was followed by business-to-business meetings to enable a furtherexchange of information and cooperation opportunities. - VNA