Wednesday, 25/08/2021 16:45 (GMT+7)
The Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on August 24 coordinated with the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC) to hold an online exchange entitled “India - Vietnam Business Meet in Medical Devices Sector”, in order to promote bilateral trade in medical equipment.
ITPC Deputy Director Tran Phu Lu addresses the exchange. (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)
Speaking at the opening ceremony, ITPC Deputy Director Tran Phu Lu emphasized that Vietnam is determined to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, protect people's health and lives, and return the country to a new normal soon. “Vietnam is also determined to implement the vaccine strategy, focusing on import, technology transfer, and research for production of domestic vaccines for free annual injection to the people in order to achieve herd immunity,” he said.
On August 10, Vietnam's Nanogen Company signed a confidentiality agreement on technology transfer, production and distribution of Nanocovax vaccine with India’s Vekaria Healthcare LLP Company. This is a testament to the international cooperative relationship that brings economic efficiency and benefits to the people through the development of bilateral trade between Vietnam and India.
According to the Indian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Vietnam's medical equipment industry is one of the most promising industries for foreign investment. The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam and India in the current period means the two sides have the same interest - jointly developing the exchange of medical equipment.
Lawyer Dinh Quang Long said during the meeting that according to a circular of the Ministry of Finance, some medical equipment, machines and tools are eligible for value added tax (VAT) incentives at the tax rate of 5% since August 1, along with tax incentives between Vietnam and India. Vietnam has issued regulations on special preferential import tax rates to implement the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement under the Framework Agreement on ASEAN-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation in the 2018-2022 period, with the tax rate ranging from 0% - 8.5%, being an extremely favorable factor for bilateral trade cooperation between the two countries in the field of medical equipment.
Amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world in general, and in Vietnam and India in particular, there is increasingly high demand in medical equipment for serving the treatment of serious and critical patients./.
Compiled by BTA