Vietnam and India signed dozens of business deals during the four-day visit ended on December 19 by Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

Vietnam and India senior officials at a ceremony in New Delhi during the visit paid by  Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. Photos: VNA

Digital transformation, ICT, semiconductor, health, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas dominate business deals were signed during the visit.

Among 12 memorandums of understandings (MOUs) signed by businesses of both countries, four costing US$4.8 billion including those in oil and gas industry.

On the occasion, India’s state-run Indian Oil Corporation signed a deal with Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company (BSR), a subsidiary of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), operating Dung Quat Oil Refinery Plant. Under the MOU, the two firms will develop petrochemical refinery projects in Vietnam, India and third countries.

Indian Oil will help expand and offer maintenance of Dung Quat Oil Refinery while both companies will develop process design packages (PDPs), basic engineering design packages (BEDPs) for non-copyrighted technology workshops and workshops using indigenous technology of Indian Oil.

During his stay in India, Hue met AK Gupta, Managing Director and CEO of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the Indian largest state-run crude oil and natural gas company in India. He said Vietnam continues facilitating the operations of India’s investors in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the continental shelf and the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Vietnam-India Business Forum attracts about 700 leading firms from both countries.

In terms of health sector, Bharat Biotech donated 200,000 doses of Covid-19 Covaxin vaccine for children while Optimus Pharma offers technology transfer and material supply to produce 4.75 million pills of Movinavir 200mg in Vietnam for Covid-19 treatment.

In New Delhi, the Vietnam-India Business Forum, the biggest-ever so far, was held with the in-person and online participation of more than 700 leading businesses from both countries.

During his India tour, Hue visited India’s Southern State of Karnataka where is home to Bengaluru, a high-tech hub widely regarded as the “Silicon Valley of India” or “IT capital of the subcontinent country”. The Vietnamese top lawmaker met the state’s governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, discussed the investment opportunities and welcomed Indian capital inflows into Vietnam. 

During the visit, the bilateral relations were tightened with the meetings between Hue and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi.

The two sides reaffirmed the long-standing relations that cover a wide range of fields namely security-defense, energy, trade-investment, science-technology, digital transformation, health, education, culture, religion, tourism, and people-to-people links.

They pledged mutual support at regional and international forums.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue meet representatives of India-Vietnam Friendship Associations.

In the post-pandemic era, they agreed to boost cooperation in tourism, culture, and people-to-people diplomacy.

The visit to India comes at a time when it marks the 5th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India in 2021, and the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of establishing official diplomatic relations in 2022.

The Vietnam-India ties play an important role for New Delhi in relations with Southeast Asian countries. That is because the two sides share many common interests in politics, defense, and economy. In which, one of the outstanding cooperation is improving defense capacity. In 2020, leaders of the two countries put forward a Vietnam-India Joint Vision for peace and prosperity.

The two countries also shared the consensus that the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea reached by the parties must equitably balance the interests of other countries in the region, with a rule-based approach. The two sides share a common perception of threats to security in the region.

India has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to supporting Vietnam’s position, while Vietnam continues to welcome India’s stronger presence in Southeast Asia – an important part of New Delhi’s Act East Policy.