Vietnam ready to provide most favourable environment to Indian investors: Dung

Vietnam will create favourable environment for Indian companies to do business and investment as India has become one of the top investors in the country, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the meeting with captains of Indian and Vietnamese industry here on Friday.

New Delhi, July 6 : "Vietnam will create favourable environment for Indian companies to do business and investment as India has become one of the top investors in the country", said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the meeting with captains of Indian and Vietnamese industry here on Friday.

Dung said that the relation between the two countries has considerably increased in last five years and reached one billion dollars in 2006.

"Vietnam wants to find out ways to elevate the traditional relationship with India to a comprehensive strategic partnership in science, technology and education for the sustainable development of the people of both countries," he said.

"India and Vietnam enjoy traditional friendship with 'Ganga - Mekong' connection and have mutual support for the country's development," he added.

"Vietnam has a dynamic economy with a growth of seven to eight percent for the last 20 years, and will try to achieve nine percent in forthcoming years," said Dung.

Vietnam supports India's policies on ASEAN and is keen to work closely with India to promote FDI with India, he said.

Inviting the Indian companies to do business in Vietnam, he said: "Political and social stability of Vietnam will ensure stable business conditions for Indian companies to do business".

Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs, said: "Both the countries need to accelerate the rate of growth and development should reach the people who could not access the level of sustenance."

Sharma also said that India is committed to sharing its knowledge, experience and technology with Vietnam, and added that industry of both the countries should identify new areas of cooperation besides the sectors that have already been prioritised.

There is an increase in bilateral trade with Vietnam in the last decade, but the industrialists should set their own benchmarks to enhance growth, said the minister.

"Indians have admiration and respect for the people of Vietnam who fought for their freedom and dignity. It is a different friendship now, which focuses on economic growth of both countries with common agenda", he said.

Vietnam has officially become the 150th member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and in the first five months of 2007, the country has drawn 5.2 billion dollars worth of foreign direct investment, said Dr. V L Dutt, Chairman, Indian-Vietnam Joint Business Council at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

He said that confidence of Indian businesses is on the rise with Indian companies investing over 10 billion dollars.

"This presents tremendous opportunities for both the countries. IT, drugs and pharmaceuticals, steel, chemical, fertilizers, hydrocarbons, food processing and two wheelers are few areas where Indian capabilities and competitiveness are well known and enhanced cooperation with Vietnam should benefit both countries", said Dr. Dutt.

Dr. Dutt further said that railways are an important area where Indian expertise could be put to use.

"Another important facet of our cooperation can be in the field of higher education, research and human resource development. There is an immense scope for cooperation in agriculture, agro-industries, animal husbandry and other related areas," he added.

V N Dhoot, President, ASSOCHAM said that the increasing commercial interaction between Vietnam and India has led to manifold rise in the volume of trade from 72 million dollars in 1995 to one billion dollars in 2006.

"The encouragement that the government of Vietnam has provided to private investment and the liberal policy framework that has accompanied it, have greatly facilitated the Vietnamese economy to record one of the fastest growth rates in the world". Rising Indian acquisitions and investments abroad should provide good prospects for setting up joint ventures with Vietnam in various sectors, he added.

The CII moderator Dr. T Mukherjee, Deputy Managing Director, Tata Steel said that Vietnam is an important partner to India and share long standing historical, cultural, religious, economic and strategic relations.

He said, "A commonality of approach can also be seen between foreign policies of the two countries and their approach towards global players like USA and China".

India's expertise and capital can be very useful to Vietnam in the fields of IT, railway, construction, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, financial services, production of sugar, oil and gas exploration, education and skills development, he added.

Dr. Mukherjee said that both countries can work together in the areas of science and technology like biotechnology in agriculture, technology for new materials, research, remote sensing and IT enabled services.

In the near future India-Vietnam bilateral trade and investments will grow rapidly and both the countries will work together to explore new potential areas for collaboration, he added.

Two MoUs with a business value of 500 million dollars were signed between Indian and Vietnamese companies for investment in mining, oil fields, power sector and fund management.

Another MoU was signed between educational institutes of Vietnam and India for the development of education sector of both the countries.

ANI