Vietnam - India strive to increase trade turnover to 30 billion USD

Receiving Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on the afternoon of July 31, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also suggested that the two countries expand cooperation to new areas such as green transformation, digital transformation, innovation, semiconductor chips, and artificial intelligence.

Over the past time, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and India increased from 200 million USD in 2000 to 14.4 billion USD in 2023, of which Vietnam exported 8.5 billion USD and imported 5.9 billion USD. India is one of the 8 largest trading partners of Vietnam, while Vietnam is among the four ASEAN countries in terms of trade with India.

India has 410 projects with a total registered capital of over one billion USD in Vietnam. Vietnam has invested in 16 projects in India with a total capital of 14 million USD.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister expressed that through this visit, the relationship between the two countries will enter a new period of trust, deeper understanding and greater effectiveness.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar expressed his condolences to Vietnam on the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, an outstanding leader and great friend of the Indian people. He believed that the Prime Minister's visit would bring a strong impetus to the bilateral relationship in the coming time.

At the meeting, the two sides also agreed to continue cooperation at regional and international forums, supporting ASEAN's stance on the East Sea.

Earlier, receiving Mr. Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman of ONGC Videsh Ltd. - a subsidiary of ONGC, India's largest crude oil and natural gas corporation, the Prime Minister emphasized that oil and gas exploration, exploitation and processing are important fields for Vietnam. Energy cooperation is also very important for the two countries. Vietnam hopes that the corporation will expand its investment in Vietnam in the coming time, including continuing to do well in existing projects and implementing new projects to explore, exploit and process oil and gas to ensure immediate and long-term effectiveness.

ONGC Videsh owns interests in 35 oil and gas blocks in 15 countries and produces about 30.3% of oil and 23.7% of oil and natural gas in India. In terms of reserves and production, ONGC Videsh is the second largest oil and gas company in India, after its parent company ONGC.

Receiving Mr. Shikhar Malhotra, Director of HCL Group, the Prime Minister proposed to step up support for Vietnam in developing information technology infrastructure, transferring technology, training human resources, and placing orders with Vietnamese partners.

HCL leaders said they consider Vietnam a strategic investment destination and are committed to promoting cooperation in the areas mentioned by the Prime Minister.

HCL was founded in 1976, operating in the field of information technology; has offices in more than 60 countries and nearly 220,000 employees. HCL's services are widely used in industries such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, retail, oil and gas, aerospace - defense, automotive, chemicals and processing, high technology, healthcare, transportation and logistics.

HCL invested 20 million USD to establish representative offices in Hanoi in 2020 and Ho Chi Minh City in 2021. Revenue in Vietnam last fiscal year reached 16.5 million USD, creating more than 1,000 jobs.