Ho Chi Minh City aims to promote cooperation in key sectors of India

Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan presents a souvenir to Mr. Rajeev Singh during the meeting. (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

He made the statement on September 12 during a meeting with Rajeev Singh, director general of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), who visited the city to discuss opportunities for cooperation.

At the meeting, Vice-President Vo Van Hoan expressed satisfaction with the ever-growing all-round traditional friendship between Vietnam and India. In terms of trade, India is now one of Vietnam’s 10 largest trading partners, with bilateral trade reaching a record $15 billion in 2022, an increase of almost 14% compared with 2021, and $14.36 billion in 2023. The two countries have made significant progress in education, cultural exchanges, human resources development, defense, security cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

He praised the ICC for its significant development and the role it is playing, expressing his belief that the great potential of the ICC and the establishment of its representative office in Ho Chi Minh City will significantly strengthen trade and investment relations between the city and India.

Presenting the city’s development strategy for the coming period, he emphasized Ho Chi Minh City’s willingness to strengthen cooperation in key sectors of India, such as transportation infrastructure, new technologies, digital transformation, semiconductors, green transformation (hydrogen), renewable energy, biotechnology, and the production of pharmaceutical products and vaccines.

Mr. Rajeev Singh expressed appreciation for the strong friendship and cooperation between India and Vietnam, especially between India and Ho Chi Minh City. He noted that ICC, with over 2000 member companies, is the largest, most dynamic and pioneering chamber of commerce in India, representing leading Indian corporates across sectors. ICC currently operates 13 representative offices in India and 14 abroad.

He mentioned that Indian companies are very interested in the investment environment and favorable policies in Ho Chi Minh City. He was accompanied on this trip by 16 Indian companies looking for potential projects and trade opportunities in areas such as infrastructure, education, artificial intelligence, energy and logistics. He also shared information about ICC’s plans, including activities related to AI training and workforce development.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to hold a conference and a series of events lasting two to three days focusing on technology and artificial intelligence to explore opportunities for cooperation and work out the details./.