ASEAN free trade pact to help India, Vietnam

India's trade with Vietnam, which has doubled in the last three years to $817 million, will get a boost with the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations

India’s trade with Vietnam, which has doubled in the last three years to $817 million, will get a boost with the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“There has been a significant upward trend in bilateral trade and the volume would increase further with the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN,” an official statement said after visiting Minister of Industry of Vietnam Hoang Trung Hai called on Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath here.

Hai discussed with Nath the possibilities of bilateral cooperation in investment, especially in sectors like information technology and drugs and pharmaceuticals.

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Indian investments in Vietnam are currently valued at around $125 million and there is considerable scope for increasing it, both sides noted.

Bilateral trade kept the pace during the current financial year, improving to $310.69 million in the first four months. Exports at $251.65 million far outweigh imports, which stood at $59.04 million.

Items of export from India to Vietnam during 2005-06 were oil meals, drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, primary and semi-finished iron and steel, plastic and linoleum products.

Items of import from Vietnam during 2005-06 were commodities like spices, coal, coke and briquettes, organic chemicals and electrical machinery.

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Two Indian firms — KEC and Nagarjuna International Sugar — have already established presence in Vietnam, while ONGC was the first foreign company, which signed a production sharing agreement with Petro Vietnam in 1988, a project through which natural gas reserve of over two trillion cubic feet have been discovered.

Other Indian companies involved in various projects include Godrej, Rajshree and Dhampur Sugar Mills, Siva Plastics and Sol Pharmaceuticals.