Indian investment in Vietnam yet to match potential

Indian foreign direct investment in Vietnam is relatively modest because of the lack of trade promotion activities, says a deputy minister of planning and investment.

“Bilateral trade and investment relationship has seen many positive results in recent times but is still not commensurate with the potentials of both countries,” said Tran Duy Dong said at a recent forum.

India ranked 26th in foreign direct investment in Vietnam with 296 projects and a combined registered capital of around $900 million last year, compared to Thailand (9th) and Malaysia (8th), according to official figures.

One of the reasons for this is the lack of information sharing via trade promotion activities between the two countries, Dong said, adding that more offline and online trade activities should be organized.

Pranay Verma, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, said his country, with a population of 1.4 billion, is a large and potential market for Vietnamese companies to invest in.

In recent years, direct flights between the largest cities of the two countries have been opened and this will serve to boost trade, he said.

Don Lam, deputy head of Vietnam’s Private Economic Development Research Board, said that the two countries are seeing positive figures in trade relations with Vietnam’s imports from India rising 65 percent between 2017 and 2020 to reach $4.5 billion.

Vietnam’s exports to India in the period surged nearly three times to $6.7 billion, he said.

Many Indian companies are looking at Vietnam as an attractive investment destination and a hub for transferring goods to Southeast Asian countries, he added.