Agriculture, fisheries and pharmaceuticals are potential areas for cooperation between localities of Vietnam and India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

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

Neeraj Sarda, Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s chapter in Andhra Pradesh,  put forth some cooperation activities on trade and investment at a virtual conference held this week to enhance trade links between Vietnamese localities and India’s Andhra Pradesh state. 

At the conference, jointly organized by the Trade Office of the Embassy of Vietnam in India in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (IIC), Sarda said that Andhra Pradesh is the 7th largest state in India in terms of area and population (160,205 km² and around 50 million people, respectively). Located in eastern India, it is home to the port of Visakhapatnam, a key commercial and military seaport in India.

The state is strong in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, accounting for 16% of India's production value with four special economic zones for pharmaceuticals and biotech, he added.

At a workshop held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade in April, Indian businesses said they wanted to invest in the production of value-added agricultural products in Vietnam to export back to the Indian market due to the high demand for processed foods in their home country.

Therefore, the two sides still have plenty of room for cooperation in investment and trade in agricultural production as well as support for each other in processing technology.

According to the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Trade, in the fiscal year 2021-2022 (April 2021 - March 2022), the bilateral trade turnover reached US$14.13 billion, creating a solid premise for achieving the $15 billion target set by the leaders of the two countries for the near future.

Vietnam exports electronic products, telephones, electronic equipment, and seafood. On the Indian side, the main export groups to Vietnam include seafood, textiles, and pharmaceuticals.

Bui Trung Thuong, Vietnamese Trade Counselor emphasized that trade cooperation between India and Vietnam has always maintained a high growth in the past two decades.

At the conference, Vietnamese delegates pointed out potential areas where Vietnam has many opportunities to cooperate with Andhra Pradesh.

Huynh Lien Phuong, Director of the Danang Investment Promotion Center, briefly presented the investment opportunities in the central coastal city of Danang, a locality with a favorable geographical position connecting to Asia by sea or air, as well as to East Asia and the Indian Ocean through the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC Strategy). 

Five key areas are the focus for the city's development, including tourism development and high-quality services, seaports and airports associated with logistics services, high-tech industry linked with smart cities and start-ups, information technology industry associated with the digital economy, hi-tech agricultural and aquatic products.