Mobile phones, electronic spare parts are among Vietnam's exports to India (Photo: VNA)
India is now one of the top 10 trading partners of Vietnam while Vietnam is the 15th biggest trading partner of India and the fourth largest in ASEAN. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade is likely to surpass 15 billion USD next year. In particular, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s ongoing visit to India will mark an important milestone in bilateral relationship in new normal.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Asian Market, India is the most important market of Vietnam in South Asia, with two-way trade accounting for around 80 percent of Vietnam’s total trade with South Asian nations. From 5.5 billion USD in 2016, trade between the two countries surged to 11.2 billion USD in 2020 and is expected to surpass 13 billion USD next year, a record figure.
In ten months of this year, the figure reached approximately 11 billion USD, up 37.7 percent year-on-year.
Vietnam is the second largest supplier of natural rubber to India (Photo: tapchicongthuong.vn)
As of October, Indian firms invested in 310 projects with a total registered capital of 910.29 million USD in Vietnam, placing India 26th out of 141 countries and territories investing in the country.
Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor Bui Trung Thuong said during the NA Chairman’s visit, the Vietnam Trade Office under the Vietnamese Embassy in India will work closely with ministries and agencies, and the Federation of Industries of India to hold 15 trade promotion programmes in various areas. He hoped that more deals will be reached during the events.
A representative from the Ministry of Industry and Trade said the ministry will continue fine-tuning policies and mechanisms to attract investment from India, one of the trustworthy and top priority partners of Vietnam.
THACO exports 870 semi-trailers to the US
On December 15, THACO Group held a ceremony to export the first batch of 870 semi-trailers to the US market.
The first shipment of 870 semi-trailers out of a total of 15,500 semi-trailers was loaded onto ships by THACO for export to the US. (Photo: VNA)
This is the first shipment in the agreement between Thaco Industries (Vietnam) and PITTS Enterprises (the US) to sign a contract to export 15,500 semi-trailers in 2022 with a value of 215 million USD.
At the event, Thaco Industries and PITTS Enterprises officially signed an exclusive agreement to distribute semi-trailers in the US market with sales of 25,000 semi-trailers in 2023, worth over 350 million USD.
The total sales that PITTS Enterprises commits to distribute in 2022-2023 are 40,500 semi-trailers with a value of 565 million USD.
On December 15, THACO exported the first 870 semi-trailers. The company will continue shipments of 1,400 semi-trailers on January 3, 2022; 1,200 semi-trailers on February 7, 2022 and 1,200 semi-trailers on average each subsequent month.
The shipments are carried out by the international shipping line Liberty Global Logistics (the US) by dedicated ship RoRo.
Do Minh Tam, General Director of Mechanics and Supporting Industry Corporation (THACO Industries), said that grasping the strong growth trend of bilateral trade between Vietnam and the US, THACO has stepped up market research and sought opportunities to export semi-trailer products.
After nearly 2 years of researching, developing and introducing products in the US market, THACO’s semi-trailers have been evaluated to suit customer needs and have high competitiveness.
Vietnam’s two big hubs named among 100 best city destinations
Overview of West Lake in Hanoi. (Photo: nhandan.com.vn)
Vietnam’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, have been listed among the world’s 100 best city destinations in 2021 by the market research firm Euromonitor International.
In the list released in early December 2021, Ho Chi Minh City was ranked 90th while Hanoi held the 94th position.
To get the list, the British company conducted research on over 110 cities across 86 markets, built around six key pillars including Economic and Business Performance, Tourism Performance, Tourism Policy and Attractiveness, Tourism Infrastructure, Health and Safety, and Sustainability.
According to the criteria, both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are rated the highest for tourism infrastructure (indexes at 38 and 44, respectively), based on accommodation services, travel, entertainment, shopping and places to eat.
A view of Ho Chi Minh City
Both cities have many high-class hotels, convenient homestay services and many entertainment spots and attractions. In addition, the health and safety criteria in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were also evaluated well with indexes of 63 and 66, respectively.
Before the pandemic, in 2019, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed nearly 9 million international visitors, an increase of nearly 14% over the same period last year. Meanwhile, Hanoi greeted more than 7 million international visitors, an increase of 17% against 2018. In the rankings of world travel sites such as TripAdvisor, Booking and Agoda, the two cities are always loved by tourists.
Eight of the top 10 cities in the Top 100 City Destinations Index are European, including Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, London, Munich and Barcelona. Paris is the top-ranked city in the index overall. It has the highest ranking in terms of Tourism Performance and second-highest ranking in terms of Tourism Policy and Infrastructure globally./.