In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in India Bui Trung Thuong noted bilateral trade reached 15 billion USD in 2022, turning India into the eight biggest trading partner of Vietnam. However, there remains much potential and room for both sides to develop trade links. Their markets are large and export structures are highly complementary to each other.
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Participants in the webinar held by the Trade Office of Vietnam in India on February 8 |
Nguyen Phuc Nam, Deputy Director of the Asia - Africa Market Department at the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that Vietnam views India as an important market with a population of about 1.4 billion.
To improve trade and investment ties with Indian firms and further seize opportunities in the Indian market, the opening of branches and representative offices in India is one of the directions Vietnamese businesses should consider in the current context, he went on.
Nam added the MoIT and the Trade Office are always ready to assist enterprises in seeking cooperation and tackling difficulties facing them in India.
Manan Agarwal, Director of KrayMan Consultants LLP, said Vietnam’s direct investment in India is still modest, 28.55 million USD.
Meanwhile, India holds many conditions for foreign investments such as an abundant source of land and a young workforce speaking English fluently. Its government has also issued many foreign investment attraction policies, especially for priority fields such as batteries, consumer electronics, auto spare parts, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications product manufacturing.
Vietnamese businesses can be present directly in India via representative offices, offices of projects, branches, and affiliates, or indirectly via investment cooperation, mergers and acquisitions, technical support contracts, and franchising, Agarwal noted.
At the event, a leader of India’s HDFC Bank also detailed the regulations and procedures for setting up branches, representative offices, and offices of projects in his country.
Source: VNA