Mr. Bui Trung Thuong (Photo: congthuong.vn)
Ahead of the Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s visit to India from December 15-19, Bui Trung Thuong, Vietnam Trade Counselor on trade exchange in India, said that trade and investment are one of the main pillars of bilateral relations. India is one of the top 10 trading partners of Vietnam, while Vietnam is the 15th largest trading partner of India and the 4th in Southeast Asia. Agriculture, fisheries, textiles, pharmaceuticals, information technology, machinery and equipment, and energy are the main drivers of economic relations.
Bilateral trade between the two countries grew strongly from USD5.5 billion in 2016 when the two countries established comprehensive strategic partnership, to USD11.2 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach more than USD13 billion in 2021, the highest level ever.
According to Mr. Thuong, within the framework of the official visit of the National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the Trade Office - Embassy of Vietnam in India will coordinate with domestic and Indian ministries, Indian Industry Federation and chambers of commerce to organize 15 trade and investment promotion programs.
He said that the “Partnership summit” will present the major economic policies that India has established in the past year, world economic relations, and the development of vaccines and medicines in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic still having a strong impact on the world economy. The summit will also discuss shaping the future of the economy, and exchange business and cooperation opportunities in areas such as manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics, supply chain, and high-tech agriculture, drugs - pharmaceuticals and vaccines, services, tourism as well as the fields of new energy and renewable energy. “This is a good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses, policy makers and researchers to gain experiences as well as exchange business investment cooperation opportunities,” he added.
As planned, the National Assembly Chairman will attend and speak at the "Vietnam - India Business Forum" on December 17, in New Delhi, in which it will focus on clarifying the current status of Vietnam - India trade and investment relations, motivations and breakthroughs in the coming time and many other important contents. “The forum expects that many valuable economic contracts will be signed during the time of trade and investment promotion activities, which will be a push to promote bilateral trade in the near future, reaching USD15 billion as the leaders of the two countries set out,” said Mr. Thuong.
Talking about potential breakthrough sectors in the cooperation between the two countries, he said that cooperation in energy and oil and gas, development of cooperation in infrastructure, seaports and airports continue to be bright spots and have great potential to create breakthroughs in the future, in addition to other traditional industries such as textiles, supporting industries, and automobile industries. Promoting cooperation in healthcare and pharmaceuticals in the context of the whole world being strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, will also be a new point in Vietnam-India relations. Because India is a power in pharmaceuticals, providing more than 50% of the total vaccines for the world, in 2022, the Indian Government aims to produce 5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Cooperation in information technology and startups also hopes to bring new breakthroughs as India is also a powerhouse in information technology. In 2020 alone, nearly 40 Indian startups have become unicorns with a total value of over USD1 billion./.