Vice President of VCCI Nguyen Quang Vinh (4th from right) receives the business delegation led by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in Bangalore, India

Attending Indian businesses are mainly involved in import and export, pharmaceuticals, and technology.

The meeting also drew some Vietnamese companies interested in the Indian market.

At the meeting, Vice President Nguyen Quang Vinh said that VCCI is a national agency representative of the Vietnamese business community, with nearly 200,000 members and branches and offices across the country. One of VCCI’s outstanding activities is promoting trade and investment and supporting domestic and foreign companies to find markets and business partners. VCCI has signed 160 MOUs with partners around the world. This direct meeting is a practical activity for Vietnamese and Indian businesses to effectively introduce, exchange information, find partners and promote trade and investment.

In the coming time, VCCI may sign a cooperation agreement with FKCCI to foster support and provide information for businesses of the two countries, he said. VCCI may organize a Vietnamese business delegation to India to explore the market and look for opportunities and business partners.

“Among 200,000 VCCI members, many are interested in the Indian market, and they can go to India to open representative offices to facilitate business,” he added.

Concurring with Mr. Vinh’s viewpoints, Mr. B.V. Gopal Reddy, President of FKCCI, said that he was very delighted and introduced to his friends Vietnam’s unique products such as tea and coffee. He also suggested that, in addition to enhancing effective trade and investment promotion, Vietnam and India can study and open a direct flight route from Hanoi to Karnataka. This is very important to connect the two sides.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in 2022, the two-way trade value reached US$15.05 billion, up 13.6% year on year. In particular, Vietnam's main export was coffee, followed by steel and footwear. Vietnam’s fastest-growing import from India was steel, followed by wheat, automobiles, vegetables and fruits, machinery and equipment, and metal tools.

On investment, according to the Indian Business Chamber (Incham) in Hanoi, India had 315 valid projects worth more than US$918 million in Vietnam as of February 2022, mainly engaged in processing and manufacturing, power production and distribution, and mining. Looking at the broader picture, India's investment in Vietnam from third countries is about US$1.9 billion.

India has invested in 28 localities in Vietnam, excluding three oil and gas exploration and production projects. Ninh Thuan province took the lead with four projects, followed by Phu Yen, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Nghe An and Long An.

India’s largest project in Vietnam is US$94.5 million Son Hoa sugar mill in Phu Yen province, followed by US$71.9 million INFRA 1 solar power plant in Ninh Thuan province and US$67.5-million TATA Coffee Vietnam Co., Ltd in Binh Duong province.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has 6-9 investment projects in India, mainly involved in wholesale and retail, with a total value of over US$6 million, which is likely to reach US$28.55 million soon.

Notably, Vietnam and India opened direct flights in June 2021, operated by Indogo and Vietjet Air. Vietnam Airlines also opened a direct flight route from Vietnam to India in June 2022.