The meeting had the participation of about 150 Indian and Vietnamese businesses/ enterprises from various important importing/ exporting sectors. From the Indian side, Mr. R.O. Sunil Babu, Consul/ Head of Chancery, Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City attended physically while Mr. Ashish Jain, Head of Marketing & Research Division, Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), Mr. Gunadhar Sena, General Director, Bank of India Branch in Ho Chi Minh City (BoI) and Ms. Sai Sudha Chandrasekaran, Senior Assistant Vice President, Invest India attended virtually.

From the Vietnamese side, Mr. Võ Tân Thành, Vice President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) – cum General Director VCCI – Ho Chi Minh City branch, attended physically while Mr. Bùi Trung Thướng, Trade Counsellor, Embassy of Vietnam, New Delhi and Ms. Lê Thị Mai Anh, Head of Department for Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Regional Cooperation, Asia-Africa Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade attended virtually along with other officials/ dignitaries from Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Võ Tân Thành, Vice President of VCCI – cum General Director VCCI – Ho Chi Minh City branch, said that Vietnam - India trade turnover has increased significantly in recent years, with an average annual growth rate of nearly 16%. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, bilateral trade has risen nearly 37% compared to 2020, in which, Vietnam's exports to India reached nearly USD 6.3 billion, up nearly 20% compared to 2020. He also mentioned that VCCI would continue to facilitate business from both sides to engage and cooperate by organizing many more sector-focused business events/ activities.

Mr. R.O. Sunil Babu, Consul/ Head of Chancery, Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City remarked that India and Vietnam shared strong bilateral ties historically and in the past two decades, there has been an exponential growth in our trade and economic relations from USD 200 Million in 1999-2000 to USD 13 Billion in 2021 and now set the target of achieving USD 15 billion of bilateral trade at the earliest. He also affirmed that India and Vietnam are well placed to lead the global economic recovery in the post-COVID scenario and encouraged the businesses of our two countries to approach their economic engagement with each other.

Mr. Ashish Jain, Head of Marketing & Research Division, Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), analyzed the Bilateral Trade between the two countries and presented the many high potential products for further development and market capture. He also shared that in the upcoming future, FIEO will host many delegations to exploit Vietnam’s market thanked to the reconnection of direct flights between India and Vietnam.

Besides thas, Ms. Lê Thị Mai Anh, Head of Department for Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Regional Cooperation, Asia-Africa Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, remarked India’s 1.5 billion market has great potential. She also stated that the bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has quadrupled in the last 10 years and emphasized that food processing, consumer goods, agricultural and aquatic products, textiles, footwear, pharmaceuticals are industries where Vietnam and India still have much room for cooperation and can complement each other well.

Following the remarks session, the meeting also received many queries from participants in regards to the information and policies to access the Indian market and how to do business effectively with the Indian counterparts, and the panel had addressed those queries promptly.