Indian PM's new initiative woos Vietnamese investment

‘Make in India’ is an international marketing campaign slogan coined by the Prime Minister of India Narenda Modi on September 25, 2014 to attract businesses from around the world to invest and manufacture in India.

Speaking at the event, Smita Pant, Indian Consul General in HCM City said Vietnam is one of the largest investors in India’s neighbour, Myanmar, and the nation’s investment in another neighbour, Bangladesh, has also increased in recent times.

She spoke highly of cooperation opportunities between Vietnamese and Indian businesses, especially noting Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will lead a delegation of businesses to visit India this month and the visit holds great promise for increased cooperation.

She added the launch of a direct air route between India and Vietnam and the negotiations for a memorandum of understanding between HCM City and Mumbai are ongoing. Moreover, both sides are making great strides in opening a subsidiary of an Indian bank in HCM City in the future.

President of the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam, Mohan Ramesh Anand expressed hope that the event will promote Vietnamese investment in India in such fields as farm produce, aquaculture, food processing, footwear, interior decoration and wood products.

The Indian Government allows foreign retailers to possess an ownership interest of up to 51% of a business in India. In addition, India’s food processing industry is also expected to reach US$320 billion by 2015, and Vietnamese businesses should seize the unique opportunity to penetrate the huge market, Anand said.

So far, Vietnamese companies have invested more than US$8 billion in more than 500 projects abroad. However, Vietnam has only poured US$23.6 million in only three projects in India.

Mr Anand said Incham will support the campaign “Make in India” and help Vietnamese enterprises seek investment opportunities in India by providing updated information and instructing them to cooperate with trade offices and related agencies in India.

According to Incham, India has invested US$254 million in 77 projects in Vietnam and currently ranks 27th among foreign investors in Vietnam.