The ambassador made the suggestion during a seminar in India onFebruary 12, jointly organised by the embassy and the Federation ofIndian Export Organisations (FIEO) to provide Indian businesses andinvestors with insight into Vietnam’s recent economic growth and itsrenovated tariff and investment policies.
Thanh highlighted theincreasingly fruitful relationship between Vietnam and India, notingthat the two nations work closely in regional and global forums, such asthe United Nations, World Trade Organisation, ASEAN, East Asia Summit(EAS) , and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
He discussedthe status of Vietnam’s negotiations on free trade agreements (FTA)between ASEAN and India and the signed FTAs with China, the Republic ofKorea, Australia, New Zealand, and the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan CustomsUnion, as well as current negotiations with the European Union and onthe Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
India is nowone of Vietnam’s ten largest trading partners with a 14 percent increasein annual trade since 2008, Thanh said, adding that Vietnam is anattractive destination for Indian firms.
Indianinvestors have poured 258 million USD into 85 projects in Vietnam thusfar. The two nations are cooperating in oil and gas exploitationprojects.
Speaking at the event, FIEO General DirectorAjay Sahai spoke of Vietnam’s role in his country’s Look East policy,saying that Vietnam serves as a gateway between India and otherSoutheast Asian nations and that there is great potential for the twosides to further promote their future economic cooperation.
According to Ajay, the Vietnam-India trade revenue has surgedremarkably in recent years, from 2.36 billion USD in 2009 to 8.03billion USD in 2013-2014.
At the seminar, representativesfrom Indian enterprises shared their experience in the Vietnamese marketfor those interested in entering.-VNA