India and Vietnam have agreed to enhance bilateral trade to US$15 billion by 2020. The agreement was reached during the State Visit of Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India at the invitation of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Dung was accompanied by a large business delegation which had separate meetings with apex chambers of commerce and industry of India including CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM. The Prime Ministers urged the business leaders to explore business opportunities on both sides.
Business leaders on both sides identified the following sectors as priority areas for cooperation: -hydrocarbons, power generation, infrastructure, tourism, textiles, footwear, medical and pharmaceuticals, ICT, electronics, agriculture, agro-products, chemicals, machine tools and other supporting industries.
The Prime Ministers expressed their satisfaction on the steady progress made in enhancing trade and investment through fruitful interaction between business leaders from both sides. They agreed to take measures to significantly expand and diversify bilateral trade for mutually beneficial results and agreed to enhance the trade targets to US$ 15 billion by 2020. They urged that events like the India-CLMV Business Conclave should be utilized by business leaders and decision makers to achieve this target.
The Prime Ministers also expressed satisfaction at the progress made in defence cooperation including exchange of visits, annual Security Dialogue, service to service cooperation, ship visits, training, capacity building and cooperation at the regional fora including on Humanitarian Mine Action under ADMM-Plus.
They called for early implementation of US$ 100 million Line of Credit Agreement for defence procurement extended by India to Vietnam. They expressed hope that the ongoing robust defence and security cooperation between India and Vietnam will continue to be strengthened through regular exchanges at high level.
The Prime Ministers agreed that enhancing economic cooperation between both countries should be pursued as a strategic objective. They welcomed the strong growth in bilateral trade in recent years particularly after the implementation of India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and noted that the conclusion of India-ASEAN Trade in Services and Investment Agreements would further boost economic cooperation between India and ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular.
They instructed officials on both sides to utilize established mechanisms such as the Joint Sub-Commission on Trade as well as closer PPP and B2B contacts for furthering our shared trade and investment objectives. They also called for close cooperation towards realization of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).
The Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of investment for the growth of their economies and ways to create environment to mobilise greater investment. Prime Minister Dung welcomed Indian companies to invest in Vietnam and affirmed Vietnam's commitment to create favourable conditions for Indian investments.
Prime Minister Modi invited the Vietnamese companies to join the accelerated economic growth programme ‘Make in India' for reaping the benefits of this new initiative. They agreed to utilize the Customs Cooperation Agreement and Maritime Shipping Agreement between the two countries for facilitating more intensive economic engagement.
The Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Agreement between ONGC Videsh Limited and PetroVietnam for exploration of new oil and gas projects in Vietnam. Prime Minister Dung welcomed Indian oil and gas companies to explore new opportunities in midstream and downstream activities in the oil and gas sector in Vietnam.
The Prime Ministers welcomed the approval by the State Bank of Vietnam for the opening of the Bank of India branch in Vietnam.
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