India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has issued astatement to the media on the 15th India-Vietnam Joint CommissionMeeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation,which took place in New Delhi on July 11.
The following is the full text of the statement:
“I am delighted to welcome my friend Pham Binh Minh, Foreign Ministerof Vietnam who is visiting India for the 15 th meeting of the JointCommission between our countries. He has a deep connection with Indiaand has many friends here. It is like home coming.
This morning, we had a meeting to discuss the strengthening of ourstrategic partnership which included exchange of a cooperative agenda onbilateral relations and regional and global issues. I am satisfied thatthe India-Vietnam Strategic Partnership is developing well. We haveagreed to consolidate our activities and add greater content to thepartnership and bilateral relations in the fields of defence andsecurity, trade & investment, science & technology, informationtechnology, capacity building and human resource development,agriculture, education & culture and other areas of common interest.
Thereafter, we co-chaired the 15th India-VietnamJoint Commission Meeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific andTechnological Cooperation. The Meeting took stock of our entire range ofbilateral relations and identified areas of future cooperation tostrengthen and expand our strategic partnership. We reviewed theimplementation of activities agreed for 2011-13 under bilateralcooperation and exchanges and agreed to a plan of activities for2013-15. Our cooperation in regional and multilateral fora was alsodiscussed.
At the end of the meeting, we signed theAgreed Minutes of the JCM. You have witnessed the signing of anAgreement on the 19.5 million US Dollars LOC for setting up Nam Trai-IVhydropower project and Binh Bo Pumping station by CMD, Exim Bank andVietnamese Vice Minister of Finance.
The VietnameseForeign Minister will call on Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister ofIndia during his visit. He will also deliver a speech on " India-Vietnam Relations and Regional Issues" at ICWA.
India-Vietnam strategic partnership is characterised by warm and closebilateral relations and high degree of trust and understanding atpolitical levels. High level visits have played a very important role inconsolidating and strengthening our relations. Regular meetings betweenour PM and Vietnamese leaders have taken place on the sidelines ofmultilateral summit meetings. The institutional architecture of theIndia-Vietnam strategic partnership is based on the joint declaration onStrategic Partnership of 2007 and dialogue mechanisms and agreements.
Vietnam has regularly reiterated its supportfor India 's candidature for permanent membership of an expandedUNSC. It has also signed the G-4 Draft Resolution on reforms of theUNSC.
India-Vietnam security and defence cooperationis robust and growing, based on shared interests and a convergence inour security perceptions.
Economic ties haveexpanded with Vietnam receiving substantial Indian private sectorinvestments and growing trade. Bilateral trade has grown to 6.1 billionUSD in 2012-13. We are well on track to cross the target of 7 billionUSD by 2015. Investments by Indian companies totals about 936 millionUSD in 86 projects in sectors such as oil and gas exploration, mineralexploration and processing, sugar manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT, andagricultural processing.
Recently, Vietnam haschosen Tata Power as developer for a 1.8 billion USD 2X660 MW Long Phu 2Thermal Power Project in Soc Trang Province in southern Vietnam,despite strong competition from Korean and Russian companies. It will bethe single largest Indian investment in Vietnam when it comesthrough and will give a strong boost to our economic cooperation and thestrategic partnership. The MoU between the two Central Banks, viz.Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of Vietnam, signed in 2012,will enable Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank to upgrade theirrepresentative offices that they opened in Ho Chi Minh City in February2003 and March 2008 respectively into full-fledged branches in nearfuture.
India has extended 17 LoCs totalling164.5 million USD, including 19.5 million USD LoC for setting up NamTrai-IV hydropower project and Binh Bo Pumping station, signed today.India has also agreed to consider earmarking 100 million USD under theBuyer's Credit under the National Export Insurance Account (BC-NEIA)for use by Vietnam .
The two countries havestrong cooperation in capacity building and human resources development.Vietnam has been participating actively in training programmesunder Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation ( ITEC ) programme.Presently, 150 ITEC slots are being offered to Vietnam every yearalong with 16 scholarships under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme(GCSS), 14 scholarships under the Educational Exchange Programme (EEP)and 10 scholarships under the MGC Scholarship Scheme.
India has set up a 2 million USD Vietnam-India Advanced ResourceCentre in ICT (ARC-ICT) in Hanoi and is providing a PARAMSupercomputer, costing Rs 4.7cr (47 million INR), as a grant, for use inmultiple applications. The Vietnam-India Entrepreneurship DevelopmentCentre (VIEDC) and a Vietnam-India English Language Training Center(VICELT) have been established with Indian assistance under the IAI(Initiative for ASE AN Integration) as well. An IBSA funded Rice SeedImprovement Project in Da Nang is ongoing.
Weplan to establish an Indian Cultural Centre in Hanoi this year andhope that it will further promote cultural cooperation between the twocountries. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is about to finalise anagreement on conservation of the ancient remains of the ChamCivilisation at My Son. This will help revive our ancient heritage andcultural links.
We attach great importance to thedevelopment of our relations with Vietnam and move forward onIndia-Vietnam strategic partnership by adding more content in all areas.You will recall, the year 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of theestablishment of full diplomatic relations between India andVietnam , the 5th anniversary of the India-Vietnam StrategicPartnership, the 20th anniversary of partnership between India andASEAN. The two sides celebrated it as the 'Year of Friendship betweenIndia and Vietnam. ”
The following is the full text of the statement:
“I am delighted to welcome my friend Pham Binh Minh, Foreign Ministerof Vietnam who is visiting India for the 15 th meeting of the JointCommission between our countries. He has a deep connection with Indiaand has many friends here. It is like home coming.
This morning, we had a meeting to discuss the strengthening of ourstrategic partnership which included exchange of a cooperative agenda onbilateral relations and regional and global issues. I am satisfied thatthe India-Vietnam Strategic Partnership is developing well. We haveagreed to consolidate our activities and add greater content to thepartnership and bilateral relations in the fields of defence andsecurity, trade & investment, science & technology, informationtechnology, capacity building and human resource development,agriculture, education & culture and other areas of common interest.
Thereafter, we co-chaired the 15th India-VietnamJoint Commission Meeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific andTechnological Cooperation. The Meeting took stock of our entire range ofbilateral relations and identified areas of future cooperation tostrengthen and expand our strategic partnership. We reviewed theimplementation of activities agreed for 2011-13 under bilateralcooperation and exchanges and agreed to a plan of activities for2013-15. Our cooperation in regional and multilateral fora was alsodiscussed.
At the end of the meeting, we signed theAgreed Minutes of the JCM. You have witnessed the signing of anAgreement on the 19.5 million US Dollars LOC for setting up Nam Trai-IVhydropower project and Binh Bo Pumping station by CMD, Exim Bank andVietnamese Vice Minister of Finance.
The VietnameseForeign Minister will call on Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister ofIndia during his visit. He will also deliver a speech on " India-Vietnam Relations and Regional Issues" at ICWA.
India-Vietnam strategic partnership is characterised by warm and closebilateral relations and high degree of trust and understanding atpolitical levels. High level visits have played a very important role inconsolidating and strengthening our relations. Regular meetings betweenour PM and Vietnamese leaders have taken place on the sidelines ofmultilateral summit meetings. The institutional architecture of theIndia-Vietnam strategic partnership is based on the joint declaration onStrategic Partnership of 2007 and dialogue mechanisms and agreements.
Vietnam has regularly reiterated its supportfor India 's candidature for permanent membership of an expandedUNSC. It has also signed the G-4 Draft Resolution on reforms of theUNSC.
India-Vietnam security and defence cooperationis robust and growing, based on shared interests and a convergence inour security perceptions.
Economic ties haveexpanded with Vietnam receiving substantial Indian private sectorinvestments and growing trade. Bilateral trade has grown to 6.1 billionUSD in 2012-13. We are well on track to cross the target of 7 billionUSD by 2015. Investments by Indian companies totals about 936 millionUSD in 86 projects in sectors such as oil and gas exploration, mineralexploration and processing, sugar manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT, andagricultural processing.
Recently, Vietnam haschosen Tata Power as developer for a 1.8 billion USD 2X660 MW Long Phu 2Thermal Power Project in Soc Trang Province in southern Vietnam,despite strong competition from Korean and Russian companies. It will bethe single largest Indian investment in Vietnam when it comesthrough and will give a strong boost to our economic cooperation and thestrategic partnership. The MoU between the two Central Banks, viz.Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of Vietnam, signed in 2012,will enable Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank to upgrade theirrepresentative offices that they opened in Ho Chi Minh City in February2003 and March 2008 respectively into full-fledged branches in nearfuture.
India has extended 17 LoCs totalling164.5 million USD, including 19.5 million USD LoC for setting up NamTrai-IV hydropower project and Binh Bo Pumping station, signed today.India has also agreed to consider earmarking 100 million USD under theBuyer's Credit under the National Export Insurance Account (BC-NEIA)for use by Vietnam .
The two countries havestrong cooperation in capacity building and human resources development.Vietnam has been participating actively in training programmesunder Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation ( ITEC ) programme.Presently, 150 ITEC slots are being offered to Vietnam every yearalong with 16 scholarships under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme(GCSS), 14 scholarships under the Educational Exchange Programme (EEP)and 10 scholarships under the MGC Scholarship Scheme.
India has set up a 2 million USD Vietnam-India Advanced ResourceCentre in ICT (ARC-ICT) in Hanoi and is providing a PARAMSupercomputer, costing Rs 4.7cr (47 million INR), as a grant, for use inmultiple applications. The Vietnam-India Entrepreneurship DevelopmentCentre (VIEDC) and a Vietnam-India English Language Training Center(VICELT) have been established with Indian assistance under the IAI(Initiative for ASE AN Integration) as well. An IBSA funded Rice SeedImprovement Project in Da Nang is ongoing.
Weplan to establish an Indian Cultural Centre in Hanoi this year andhope that it will further promote cultural cooperation between the twocountries. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is about to finalise anagreement on conservation of the ancient remains of the ChamCivilisation at My Son. This will help revive our ancient heritage andcultural links.
We attach great importance to thedevelopment of our relations with Vietnam and move forward onIndia-Vietnam strategic partnership by adding more content in all areas.You will recall, the year 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of theestablishment of full diplomatic relations between India andVietnam , the 5th anniversary of the India-Vietnam StrategicPartnership, the 20th anniversary of partnership between India andASEAN. The two sides celebrated it as the 'Year of Friendship betweenIndia and Vietnam. ”
