| In a bid to further boost ties with India, Vietnam is looking at Kerala and its business ventures to play an important role in promoting a multi-sided cooperation between the two countries. |
| The first-ever official delegation from Socialist Republic of Vietnam was in the state capital to extend invitations to businessmen here to look at opportunities in trade, investments and tourism. |
| Addressing businessmen at a workshop on "Opportunities for doing business with Vietnam,' jointly organised by the Vietnamese embassy and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), minister-counsellor of the Vietnamese embassy, Ton Sinh Thanh, said that businessmen from Kerala were welcome to visit his country and that "it would be mutually beneficial if Kerala and Vietnam can have joint ventures in information technology, food processing, plantation, furniture, tourism and other fields." |
| With Vietnam having embarked on a five-year programme to accelerate industrialisation, modernisation and proactive international economic integration in a bid to ensure a rapid and sustainable economic development, the time is now ripe for businessmen from India, particularly Kerala, to look at Vietnam as a potential investment destination. |
| "Economic relations between the two countries have been on the upswing. Bilateral trade rose to $ 817 million in fiscal 2005-06, from $50 million in 1991," Thanh said. Vietnam is today one of the biggest FDI recipients from India with over $ 550 million of disbursed capital, according to Thanh. |
| Pointing out that despite great potential, economic relations have not been commensurate with the excellent political ties between the two countries, Thanh said India and Vietnam had to look into the future and tap the prospects for further strengthening the bonds between the two. |
| "We hope that every effort would be made by both the countries and people to bring the ties of friendship and cooperation to new highs by focusing more on exploiting the great potentials of economic cooperation," according to him. |
| India exports wheat, tobacco products, seafood, steel and iron, computers and parts, machineries, leather, pharma products, plastic raw materials and chemicals to Vietnam. |
| Meanwhile, the country's imports from Vietnam include tea, spices, essential oils, electric and electronic products, raw silk and silk, natural rubber, anthracite coal, construction materials, sanitary ceramic ware and the like. |
| Kerala minister for industries Elamaram Kareem delivered the inaugural address. Navas Meeran, chairman, CII, Kerala state council, and P Ganesh, chairman, CII, Thiruvananthapram zonal council, were among those who spoke. |
| Commercial counsellor Nguyen Tuan Quang, second secretary Nguyen Tuan Anh and third secretary Do Hoang Minh of the Vietnamese embassy made presentations on investment opportunities in Vietnam. |
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