Indian authorities and businesses wish to have a greater presence in Vietnam by cooperating with local enterprises in the southern Vietnam in diverse aspects such as agriculture, industry, machinery and equipment, healthcare, education, and tourism.

Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau and Indian enterprises at a promotion conference. Photo: the Vietnam embassy in India.

Speaking at a recent press conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Madan Mohan Sethi, Consulate General of India Ho Chi Minh City, said: “the Indian side has high expectation on the relations between Vietnam and India in trade, investment, education and tourism.”

"Once the Covid-19 pandemic is under control in India in the coming months, commercial air routes between the two countries will resume, the cooperation relationship will be bustling," he said.

The Indian official also added that 50 Indian businesses will come to Vietnam soon to research market and investment possibilities. Meanwhile, many Vietnamese businesses are also interested in investing in the Indian market.

Several major enterprises of India such as Adani Group, Mahindra, SRF and Suzlon are also keen on investing in Vietnam, according to the Indian Industries Association.

At a recent online conference held in New Deli, the IIA President Pankaj Gupta suggested that Indian enterprises should invest in Vietnam in energy, mineral exploration, agricultural chemicals, sugar production, tea, coffee, information technology, and automobile components.

In recent months, the governments of the two countries organized 30 trade promotion conferences online and offline to boost the bilateral activities amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the first three months of this year, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam remains strong with a total turnover of US$3.3 billion, up 34.1% against the same period of 2020. Of the total, Vietnamese exports to India amounted to US$1.7 billion, while its imports from this market exceeded US$1.58 billion.

The Vietnam Trade Office in India expected trade revenue of more than US$13 billion between two countries this year.

According to Sethi, the Indian government has taken drastic measures to help the public health sector curb the raging pandemic. 

“We hope that in a month or two, the disease will be controlled and everything will be normal again,” he said.