Vietnam-India trade on upward trend

Two-way trade between Vietnam and India is on an upward trend and likely to reach the target of US$15 billion by 2020, said Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Vietnam Chamber of

Two-way trade between Vietnam and India is on an upward trend and likely to reach the target of US$15 billion by 2020, said Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Illustrative photo.

At a workshop on the countries’ trade and investment cooperation opportunities on December 23, Thanh further said Vietnam is suffering from a considerable deficit in trade with India, thus the two sides need to devise effective measures to improve the trade balance through supporting businesses, especially Vietnamese ones, in promoting trade and investment.

Indian Consul General in HCM City Smita Pant said that once coming into force, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will be an important bridge linking Vietnam with partner countries, including India.

More and more Indian companies have noticed Vietnam as a potential market with a number of major advantages and opportunities of regional and international integration, she noted, adding that enterprises from her country are keen on expanding credit, aviation, and tourism ties with Vietnam to facilitate trade and investment activities.

During the first 11 months of 2014, bilateral trade was posted at nearly US$5.19 billion, of which Vietnamese exports to India were worth over US$2.27 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Africa, West and South Asia Markets Department.

Vietnam mainly ships mobile phones and components, chemicals, textile fibre, coffee, and pepper to India while importing machinery and spare parts, pharmaceutical, cotton, steel, animal feed, and plastic materials.