The lifting of Vietnam-India relations to the level of “strategic partnership” has created a breakthrough with a new wave of Indian investors flowing into the Southeast Asian country, said a Vietnamese diplomat.

In an interview printed on Lao dong Newspaper on May 2, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Vu Quang Diem said India had moved to the 28th place among foreign direct investors in Vietnam in 2006. In 2007, it made an impressive advance to the 6th among the top ten countries and territories directly investing in Vietnam.

The ambassador said Vietnam and India will strive to increase their bilateral trade turnover to 2 billion USD in 2008, 2 years ahead of schedule. Many made-in-Vietnam products have earned firm foothold in India over the past years, including pepper, rubber, hardware, electronics and garments and textiles.

However, the ambassador noted the trade volume between the two countries remained modest with an average growth rate of India-bound export standing at just 20 percent.

According to the Vietnamese diplomat, the signing of free trade agreement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Vietnam-India free trade agreement would help to boost commodity exchange between the two countries.

The Vietnamese Embassy in India is carrying out trade and tourism promotion programmes in India in a move to draw giant Indian corporations to operate in Vietnam, said Ambassador Diem.

Source: VNA