Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City K. Srikar Reddy (Photo: VNA)

K. Srikar Reddy, Consul General of India in HCM City, said Vietnam is an important market for India’s herbal products and medicine, while highlighting India’s pharmaceuticals development.

According to Reddy, Vietnam is among rapid and dynamic economies in Asia with increasing per-capital income along with high demand on health care services.

In addition, the country is an attractive destination for foreign tourists as well as for medical tourism. Vietnam welcomed 15.49 million foreign visitors in 2018, a year-on-year rise of 19.9 percent. The number of health care centres is increasing to serve the growing foreign visitors.

India ranks third and 14th in the world in terms of pharmaceutical output and value, respectively, Reddy said, adding leading Indian pharmaceutical firms had international recognition from the US, the EU and Australia.

Besides, made-in-India medical equipment is shipped to 150 countries around the world, including Vietnam.

Vo Tan Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s HCM City chapter, stressed the development of Vietnam’s pharmaceuticals sector in recent years. However, production only meets 52 percent of domestic consumption. In 2018, Vietnam imported 3 billion USD worth of pharmaceuticals.

Vietnamese pharmaceutical firms want to cooperate and call for investment from foreign companies, including those from India to attract capital, technology and high quality human resources. Therefore, there is room for cooperation between Vietnamese and Indian businesses in the field, according to Thanh.

Ramesh Anand, Chairman of the Indian Business Association in Vietnam, said Indian enterprises are interested in investing in and doing business with Vietnam because this is a promising market and a gateway to access the Southeast Asian region.

By the end of 2018, India had invested in 209 projects worth 878.5 million USD in Vietnam, ranking 29th among 129 foreign investors in the Southeast Asian nation.

In the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sector, India regards Vietnam as an important and promising market. So, Indian enterprises are seeking investment opportunities in building plants in Vietnam along with promoting trade of made-in-India pharmaceutical products, Anand said.

Besides, India with its advantage on pharmaceutical production and research can assist Vietnam in technique and transfer of vaccine production technology, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical materials, thereby facilitating the Vietnamese sector’s further development in the future.