Special Diwali night held in Hanoi

The event brought a glimpse of the colourful and joyful spirit of one of India's biggest festivals to Vietnam and opened up many opportunities for businesses to network.

The Indian, US and UK ambassadors to Vietnam and leaders of fellow chambers and representatives of Vietnamese authorities attended.

Diwali Night 2022 in Hanoi

The event received the active participation and response of many businesses, professional and cultural communities, and the Vietnamese, Indian, and expat community.

Diwali (Festival of Lights) is one of the biggest festivals in India. It is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance.

The festival has a major religious significance for all religions, including Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains alike - not only in India but for Indians living abroad. In the Western calendar, Diwali falls in either October or November every year, just after the monsoon season in India. This also marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year, and many businesses in India start a new accounting year on the Diwali holiday.

The event aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and India (1972-2022) and six years since the upgrading of relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Indian ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma said, “Diwali is the most popular festival in India, most widely celebrated. The festival represents starting up of a good period. It represents light, hope and good times which are coming ahead. So I think it has a lot of significance for Indian people. For many parts of the country, it's also the start of a new year.”

Regarding milestones in the Vietnam-India cooperation journey, the ambassador said, “I think India and Vietnam have the strongest relations from our perspective. In the last 50 years of diplomatic relations, we have achieved a very strong foundation, trust between the leaders on both sides, strong bonding between the people, and good business connections.”

The ambassador said 2022 was the 50^th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations, but before that high-level leaders from both sides had been in touch. In early 1958, President Ho Chi Minh paid a visit to India to develop a close bilateral relationship, some 14 years before establishing diplomatic relations.

“So I think our diplomatic relations are even older than 50 years,” the Indian ambassador.

Many symbolic activities of Indian culture, cuisine, musical performances, Indian states dance performances, henna artists and face painting were featured at the event.

Participants saw exclusive performances by the Indian Ocean Band, a famous Indian fusion band and DJ Shakey for Bollywood numbers.

The event was considered an opportunity for businesses to network and strengthen the cooperation relationship between Vietnam and India.

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Vietnam, India have potential for automobile cooperation: insiders Vietnam and India have substantial opportunities to cooperate in the automobile industry as Vietnam is accelerating FDI attraction in the sector, an official has said.

Indian companies find opportunities in Vietnam's engineering sector Around 17 Indian companies have joined the business matching event with 70 Vietnamese companies to find partnership opportunities in the engineering sector.

Indian-based financiers eager to pour further investment into the country Prominent Indian investors are eager to pump money into Vietnam in sectors such as IT, energy, healthcare, and car components, as shown in a recent round of senior business meetings.

Vietnam enjoys strong rise in Indian tourist number An average monthly rise of 51 percent was seen in the number of Indian tourists to Vietnam in the first 10 months of this year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).