Dialogue on Investment Promotion between India businesses and Authorities in South Vietnam in the New Normal

On the afternoon of December 10, 2021 at the Convention and Exhibition Center of Binh Duong province, Foreign Investment Agency – Ministry ò Planning and Investment hold an “Dialogue on Investment Promotion between India businesses and Authorities in South Vietnam in the New Normal” in order to strengthen and improve the efficiency of India’s investment promotion activities in Vietnam in general and in the Southern provinces in particular. The dialogue, which was co-organised with the People’s Committee of Binh Duong province and the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City, was organised physically at the venue and virtually via an online platform.

Delegates attend in-person the Dialogue at the venue

Representatives from Vietnam attending the Dialogue included Mr. Do Nhat Hoang – General Director of the Foreign Investment Agency – Department of Planning and Investment; Ms. Tran Hai Yen – Director of the Investment Promotion Center – South Vietnam.

On the Indian side, the representatives were Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Consul General of India in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Bui Trung Thuong, Trade Counselor, representative of the Vietnamese Embassy in India.

There were also representatives of leaders of local Departments of Binh Duong, Ben Tre, Ca Mau provinces and representatives of Indian and Vietnamese businesses.

Delegates attend virtually from various locations

“Despite being affected by the pandemic, international investors still maintain their trust in Vietnam to expand investment and consider Vietnam as a destination for future plans. Up to now, Vietnam has over 33,400 FDI projects in operation, with a total capital of over 405 billion USD from investors from 141 countries and territories. Vietnam is currently listed by UNCTAD as one of the top 20 FDI attracting countries in the world. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just forecasted that Vietnam’s GDP will increase by 6.6% in 2022, higher than that of Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia,” said Mr. Do Nhat Hoang, Director of Foreign Investment Department in his opening speech at the event. 

India is one of three countries with a Comprehensive and Strategic partnership with Vietnam and is, at the same time, traditionally an important market of Vietnam in the region. 2021 is also a special year in the relationship between the two countries that marks the 5th anniversary of the comprehensive and strategic partnership, heading towards the 50th anniversary of Diplomatic relations between Vietnam and India.

Regarding investment aspect, India has 315 active projects in Vietnam with a total investment capital of nearly 1 billion USD, ranking 26th out of 141. Investment capital is concentrated mainly in the field of processing and manufacturing industry. (accounting for 54.5% of total investment capital).

In terms of trade, despite being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, in the first 10 months of 2021, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and India still reached nearly 11 billion USD, up nearly 40% and surpassing the turnover. India is currently one of the 10 most important trade partners of Vietnam, and Vietnam is India’s 4th largest trading partner in ASEAN. 

Mr.Do Nhat Hoang – General Director of Foreign Investment Agency – Department of Planning and Investment

However, he also said that the above results are modest, incommensurate with the potential, cooperation opportunities and the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India. Apart from the processing and manufacturing industries, which account for more than half of India’s total investment capital in Vietnam, there is still great room for investment cooperation in other potential fields, especially in the strong fields of India’s such as clean energy, high-tech agriculture, innovation, digital transformation, healthcare, and so on.

Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Consul General of India in Ho Chi Minh City also shared, “Vietnam is an important partner of India in the field of economic development cooperation. India is one of three countries with a comprehensive and strategic partnership with Vietnam as well as the important market of Vietnam in the region traditionally. From just US$200 million in 2000, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has grown steadily over the years.”

According to Indian statistics, from April 2020 to March 2021, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam reached 11.12 billion USD, of which India’s exports to Vietnam were 4.99 billion USD and India’s import from Vietnam is 6.12 billion USD. Vietnam is India’s 15th largest trading partner globally and 4th largest in ASEAN after Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The main exports of India are iron and steel, machinery and equipment, pharmaceuticals, seafood, cotton, frozen meat, auto parts, chemicals, feed ingredients, grains, raw materials and plastic material. The main products imported by Vietnam into India are phones of all kinds and components, electronics, machinery equipment, chemicals, bronze and bronze products, iron, steel and agricultural products. Among of which are large Indian companies that have invested in Vietnam such as: ONGC Videsh, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, PK Marble. In addition, Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi also said that the dialogue was a great opportunity to promote the trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi – Consul General of India in Ho Chi Minh City

Trade Counselor Representative of the Vietnamese Embassy in India – Mr. Bui Trung Thuong also informed about Vietnam’s investment in India. Up to now, Vietnam has had six investment projects in India with a total investment capital of 28.55 million USD, mainly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, information technology, chemicals and building materials. India is the world’s largest producer of generic drugs and its pharmaceutical sector covers more than 50% of the global demand for vaccines. The Information Technology industry is estimated at US$45 billion and export revenue is estimated at US$150 billion in 2021. India’s chemical industry is diversified and estimated at $178 billion. India’s textile industry is estimated at $100 billion, contributing 13% of India’s industrial output and 2.3% of GDP while directly employing more than 45 million people. India’s telecommunications industry is the second largest in the world in terms of the number of users of mobile phones, smartphones and the Internet. The Indian market is extremely potential for foreign investors and through this dialogue, Mr. Thuong also hoped that Vietnamese investors would seize the opportunity and successfully invest in this market.

Attending the seminar, representatives of Binh Duong, Ben Tre and Ca Mau provinces all wanted to support, connect, and introduce Indian businesses and investors investment opportunities in the province, especially in local strengths’ industries and fields; create favorable conditions to promote local products into the Indian market; maintain and develope traditional friendly relations, promote the province’s potentials and strengths to Indian partners. Moreover, in the near future, all the provinces aim to build and strengthen local cooperation relationships with Indian localities to boost investment, trade, cultural exchange, human resource training, science and technology development, healthcare, innovation, digital technology, and digital economy, etc.

Mrs. Tran Thi Hai Yen – Director of Investment Promotion Center – South Vietnam (Left) and Mr. Le Phu Hoa – Director of Department of Foreign Affairs of Binh Duong province

Closing the seminar, Mr. Do Nhat Hoang – Director of Foreign Investment Department concluded, “The opinions exchanged in the Q&A session will be summarized and carefully considered, which will create a premise for the establishment and implementation of investment promotion corresponding with the orientations of attracting foreign investment into localities in particular and the strategic partnership between Vietnam and India in general.

Not only limited for today’s dialogue, the Foreign Investment Department will assign the Investment Promotion Center – South Vietnam to be the point of contact for maintaining a regular communication channel between the Center, localities, Indian organizations and businesses in order to share information consistently in a timely manner, and to improve regional connectivity as well as efficiency in the implementation of Indian investment promotion in the Southern provinces. Furthermore, the Foreign Investment Agency also hopes to continue to receive support and coordination from localities and units from India to carry out investment promotion activities in the future.

Delegates from India and Vietnam take a souvenir photo at the Dialogue

Investment Promotion Center – South Vietnam

Documentation and Information Division