Minister Ngo Van Tuan and Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Photo: Ho Dung

Minister Sitharaman warmly welcomed Minister Tuan and the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance delegation, while sharing updates on each country’s macroeconomic situation, fiscal policy orientation, and institutional reform agenda. The two sides discussed strengthening bilateral economic and investment cooperation, with a focus on improving the quality of investment flows, expanding collaboration in high technology, infrastructure, clean energy, and digital transformation, as well as deepening financial cooperation in areas where both countries have strengths and demand.

Minister Tuan said that Vietnam highly values its longstanding friendship with India, one of Vietnam’s key comprehensive strategic partners in the region.

The two countries share a long-standing relationship dating back to 1972, which has continued to deepen, particularly since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2016. On that foundation, economic and financial cooperation has increasingly become an important pillar contributing to the development of both countries.

On this occasion, the two sides also issued a Joint Statement on the Enhanced Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

He noted that Vietnam appreciates India’s role and position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies, with notable strengths in IT, innovation, pharmaceuticals, and energy. India’s development achievements in recent years provide valuable inspiration and experience for developing countries, including Vietnam.

In the economic and financial sphere, the Vietnamese minister expressed interest in learning from India’s successful experience in maintaining macroeconomic stability, implementing effective tax reforms, encouraging public investment, and building strategic self-reliance in key sectors of the economy.

Discussing Vietnam’s macroeconomic outlook, Minister Tuan said that during 2026-2030, Vietnam aims to achieve rapid and sustainable development, targeting average annual GDP growth of above 10 per cent, while maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and ensuring major economic balances.

Vietnam has identified priorities, including continued institutional reform, removal of policy bottlenecks, transformation of the growth model towards science, technology, innovation, and digitalisation, development of modern infrastructure, and more effective mobilisation and utilisation of development resources.

Regarding bilateral economic and investment cooperation, the minister said Vietnam believes the partnership still holds substantial untapped potential. Although the number of investment projects between the two countries is relatively high, the average project size remains modest, indicating room for deeper and more strategic cooperation.

As of the end of March 2026, India had 503 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment of approximately $1.177 billion. However, the average project size stood at only around $2.43 million, highlighting opportunities for larger-scale and longer-term collaboration.

Conversely, Vietnam also hopes to expand investment into India, a market of more than 1.4 billion people. However, Vietnamese investment in India remains limited. Vietnam proposed that both sides continue discussions to improve market access conditions and create a more favourable environment for businesses from both countries.

On development assistance, Minister Tuan expressed appreciation for India’s non-refundable aid projects in areas such as high technology, education, remote sensing, and defence. These include the High-Performance Computing Centre project at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, which is already operational; the Binh Bo pumping station project in Phu Tho province funded by a $9.5 million concessional credit package; and a satellite image receiving and processing system project financed by a $21.534 million grant from the ASEAN-India Fund.

Minister Tuan expressed his desire for the two sides to strengthen practical and effective cooperation by maximising existing cooperation mechanisms, enhancing information exchange, sharing experience and technical assistance, and improving market connectivity to facilitate trade and investment. The goal is to help build a more transparent, stable, and efficient financial environment.

Vietnam also proposed that technical-level agencies from both countries coordinate more closely to share successful experiences and strengthen capacity in priority areas where both sides have strengths and demand, including tax policy reform, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, and micro-enterprises, and improving the scale and efficiency of public investment.

Photo: Ho Dung

Regarding public investment evaluation and approval systems, Minister Sitharaman shared India’s initial achievements through the PM Gati Shakti platform.

PM Gati Shakti is one of India’s flagship infrastructure and technology initiatives launched under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The integrated digital platform coordinates 16 ministries and local authorities to accelerate infrastructure project implementation, reduce delays, lower costs, and strengthen India’s position as a global manufacturing hub.

The platform is designed to improve connectivity among railways, ports, airports, and logistics systems, facilitating smoother goods movement and attracting more international investors into India.

Minister Tuan praised the platform’s success and proposed that India consider sharing its experience and supporting Vietnam in developing a similar system to improve the efficiency of public infrastructure investment.

Vietnam also called on India to encourage major corporations to invest in Vietnam in sectors such as high technology, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and digital infrastructure, while exploring flagship projects in R&D, data centres, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and renewable energy, backed by tailored mechanisms to support effective implementation.

Vietnam further proposed that both sides strengthen support for businesses, particularly Vietnamese firms investing in India, and establish regular communication channels to address issues related to procedures, land, standards, taxation, customs, and other operational matters.

The two countries are also considering establishing an annual Vietnam-India Investment Forum linked to specific project pipelines, while boosting cooperation in training high-tech talent in areas such as AI, semiconductors, and data to build a long-term foundation for investment cooperation.