Vietnam to Receive Fresh Investment Wave from India

Fresh investment influx from India into Vietnam is on the cards as the latter is considered a pillar in the South Asian giant’s ‘Look East’ policy.


                   India's investments in Vietnam are set to soar. Photo: diplomacyindia.com

A large number of Indian companies are looking to enter and expand operations in Vietnam as the two economies do not compete with each other, participants said at a recently-concluded Vietnam-India business forum in Hanoi.

Vietnam is increasingly attractive to Indian investors as the Southeast Asian country plays an important role in India’s ‘Look East’ policy, said Vietnamese government officials.

Indian investors had won approval to implement 118 projects worth a combined $439 million as of end-2015, according to data of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In the first nine months of this year, India poured an extra $85 million into Vietnam, bringing the total capital to $524 million, with the majority running to the mining, oil and gas, IT and farm produce processing sectors.

According to Vietnamese statistics, India was the tenth largest trade partner of Vietnam in 2015 when two-way trade reached $5.1 billion. The two governments aims to lift the figure to $15 billion by 2020.

Naushad Forbes, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, noted that Vietnam possesses strengths in labor-intensive industries such as garment-textile, food processing and footwear. India, meanwhile, focuses on pharmaceuticals, engineering, IT, education and healthcare.

It’s those differences that facilitate cooperation between the two countries, Mr. Forbes commented.

At a meeting with Mr. Forbes on November 2, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue expressed hope Indian businesses would ramp up investment in Vietnam, which is a party to ten major free trade agreements at global and regional scales.

Tuan Minh / BizLIVE -