On May 6, 2026, within the framework of the State visit of General Secretary and President To Lam to India, Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung, together with a delegation from the Ministry, held a working session with the Vietnam Trade Office in India to assess bilateral economic and trade cooperation and outline key priorities for the next phase of development.

At the meeting, Bui Trung Thuong, Trade Counsellor and Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in India, presented a report to Minister Le Manh Hung and the delegation on the implementation of trade promotion activities, business support, investment connectivity, and market policy monitoring in India over the recent period.

The Trade Office has actively and proactively carried out a wide range of trade promotion initiatives, diversifying its methods from in-person to virtual formats, while facilitating direct engagement between enterprises, industry associations, and government agencies of both countries in promising sectors such as textiles and garments, footwear, seafood, agricultural products, wood products, supporting industries, and green transition.

Bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and India in 2025 reached nearly USD 16.46 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 10.6%. Notably, Vietnam’s exports to India totaled USD 10.3 billion, up 14.2% compared to the previous year.

The Trade Office has also actively supported Vietnamese businesses in participating in trade fairs, exhibitions, and business matching events, while organizing thematic seminars and regularly updating enterprises on India’s evolving policies relating to tariffs, technical standards, traceability requirements, and trade remedies.

Alongside these achievements, the Trade Office noted that the Indian market continues to present a number of challenges, including protectionist policies with high import tariffs, the growing use of trade defense measures, increasingly stringent traceability requirements, and difficulties in supply chain connectivity between businesses of the two countries.

In his remarks, Minister Le Manh Hung highly commended the Trade Office’s efforts in maintaining close market engagement, proactively supporting businesses, and promoting economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and India.

The Minister emphasized that the State visit of General Secretary and President To Lam carries special significance, ushering in a new phase of bilateral relations as senior leaders of both countries agreed to elevate ties to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Enhanced Cooperation.” This development opens substantial new opportunities for collaboration in trade, industry, logistics, oil and gas, fertilizers, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, high technology, and supply chain restructuring.

Minister Le Manh Hung stressed that the system of Vietnam’s trade offices abroad must undergo a fundamental shift in mindset and working methods toward modern governance, ensuring that trade promotion activities are closely aligned with the country’s broader economic development goals. Accordingly, trade promotion programs should be designed with clearly defined objectives, identifying which products to promote, which markets to target, and which partners to engage. Outcomes must also be measured through specific indicators such as export turnover, the number of business connections established, signed commercial contracts, and participation in supply chains.

The Minister further requested the Trade Office to develop a comprehensive database of regulatory agencies, industry associations, reputable enterprises, and major importers in India in order to strengthen connectivity and improve support for Vietnamese businesses.

To achieve the goal of raising bilateral trade turnover to USD 25 billion by 2030 in a more balanced and sustainable manner, while removing trade barriers to facilitate greater market access for both sides, the Trade Office was instructed to formulate phased action plans with clear roadmaps. These plans should identify sectors with strong growth potential, priority regional markets, appropriate promotional tools, and policy support mechanisms to be proposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

As a specific example, Minister Le Manh Hung highlighted the potential for developing a Vietnam - India supply chain in the textile and footwear industries, emphasizing the need to clarify opportunities for cooperation in raw materials, intermediate production, and enterprise connectivity in order to leverage the complementary strengths of both countries. He also called for a deeper analysis of why certain areas of cooperation have not yet delivered expected outcomes, with a view to proposing practical solutions and reporting to Ministry leadership, particularly regarding trade barriers and the progress of negotiations to upgrade the ASEAN - India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA).

In response to the Minister’s guidance, Bui Trung Thuong affirmed that the Vietnam Trade Office in India will continue to innovate its working methods in a more proactive and results-oriented manner, closely aligned with bilateral trade development objectives.

The Trade Office will focus on strengthening its market intelligence database, developing sector-specific trade promotion plans, and expanding engagement with major Indian associations and corporations. At the same time, it will proactively advise on solutions to address challenges facing Vietnamese businesses, thereby contributing to the achievement of the bilateral trade target of USD 25 billion by 2030 in line with the strategic orientations of the two countries’ leaders and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.