Talking with Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of the Dec. 23 meeting between businesses from Hanoi and India , the Chairman of the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam , Rajeev Garg, said the two nations possess potential for further cooperation in the economy and trade.
 
Rajeev Garg is leading businesspeople from eight Indian companies on a four-day visit until Dec. 25 to explore the Vietnamese market.
 
The InCham chairman noted when the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement is completed, there would be more investment and business opportunities for investors from both countries.
 
In addition to farm produce, Vietnam should increase the export of electronic and refrigerator products and computer spare parts for which India has had great demands, he said.
 
Navendu Kumar, director of the pharmaceutical trading company Ampphi Pte Limited, said Vietnam has been emerging as an attractive destination for Indian investors, as most of major Indian medicine producers have registered for the sales of their products in the Vietnamese market.
 
Last year, India raked in 60 million USD from the export of pharmaceutical products to Vietnam , mainly medicines for the treatment of liver, heart and HIV diseases, Kumar added.
 
More than 30 Indian pharmaceutical companies are operating effectively in Vietnam , while a series of other groups are planning to pour investment into the Southeast Asian country, according to executive.
 
However, Kumar said, to encourage more foreign businesses to invest in the pharmaceutical industry, Vietnam should focus on developing its high-quality human resources.
 
Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, vice director of the Hanoi Trade Promotion Centre, said foreign investors have been always provided with support to do business in the country. This first-ever visit by a delegation of Indian businesspeople will usher in a new period for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, she added.
 
At the meeting, the entrepreneurs discussed a wide range of measures to boost cooperative ties in such areas in which both Vietnam and India have advantages as garment-textile, banking, finance, software and animal feed processing.
 
Since 2001, two-way trade has recorded an annual average growth rate of between 20-30 percent. It exceeded 2.3 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2008, a year-on-year increase of 73 percent, and is estimated to hit 2.4 billion USD by the end of the year.
 
India has to date had 30 valid projects with a combined registered capital of more than 195 million USD, ranking 31st among 84 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.