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Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung addresses the forum. Photo: VGP |
The forum was within the framework of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind’s State-visit to Vietnam from November 18 to 20 at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong.
Attending the event were the Indian President, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, representatives from Vietnamese ministries, central- and local- agencies, and representatives of a number of Vietnamese and Indian businesses.
In his speech, Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung stressed that this important forum opened up opportunities for the two countries’ business communities to review their cooperation outcomes over the past 46 years, share visions, and seek new cooperation opportunities, contributing to deepening the Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership.
The Vietnamese senior official added that to meet the target of raising the two-way trade turnover to USD 15 billion in the time to come, the two sides should promote investment in the fields that India has strengths and Vietnam has demands. Besides, they should accelerate aviation and maritime connectivity, reduce and gradually remove trade barriers, create favorable conditions for import and export activities. Furthermore, people-to-people exchange should be strengthened, partly enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation in various fields.
Dung also emphasized the need to establish a dialogue mechanism between businesses and between the business communities and governments, creating a forum for them to share concerns, strategies and visions on development cooperation.
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Indian President Ram Nath Kovind speaks at the forum |
As countries with advantages of developing a sea-based economy, Vietnam and India, as the Vietnamese Deputy PM Dung said, can reinforce exchanges of information and experiences in building each country’s maritime development strategy.
Expressing his delight at attending and delivering a speech at the forum, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind underscored that Vietnam and India are special friends with similar economic visions and approaches.
The Indian President laid stress on the cooperation opportunities for the two countries’ businesses in information technology, digital economy, hydro carbon, renewable energy, health and civil aviation.
India wants to learn experiences from Vietnam in urban infrastructure development, tourism, start-up, renovation in the fourth Industrial Revolution, Indian President Kovind said.
Emphasizing the importance of agricultural cooperation, the Indian President affirmed that agricultural production, processing, pharmaceutical products, and biotechnology are promising cooperation realms of the two nations.
He said that as the third largest medicine producer in the world, India can assist Vietnam in improving the quality of healthcare service and providing medicines at reasonable prices for people, and added that various Indian pharmaceutical companies plan to open their production factories in Vietnam.
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Indian President Ram Nath Kovind plants a Bohdi tree at the My Son Tower Temple Relics. Photo: zing.vn |
Earlier, on the morning of the same day, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and his spouse visited the My Son Tower Temple Relics in the south central coastal province of Quang Nam, during which they contemplated tower temples B, C and D, enjoyed typical Cham cultural and artistic items and planted a Bohdi tree brought to Vietnam from India in front of tower C.
Over the past years, implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two Governments in 2014, India has been funding the project “Preserving and upgrading My Son relic site, a world’s cultural heritage”. This has restored the original appearance of My Son tower temples which used to be in danger of being ruined.
On the occasion, leaders of Quang Nam province thanked the Indian Government, President, experts and scientists for their support in upgrading My Son Sanctuary.
Also on November 19, the Indian President and his spouse visited the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture which houses numerous Cham sculptures found in Da Nang, Quang Nam and neighboring localities.
Translated by Mai Huong