Embassy of India

Hanoi, Vietnam

Ambassador PranayVerma’s Remarks at
“Meet India 2020”
(9 January 2020, MOFA, Hanoi)
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Hon’bleVice Foreign Minister, His Excellency Mr. Bui Thanh Son

Hon’blePeople’s Committee Chairman from NinhThuan, H.E. Mr. LuuXuanVinh,

Hon’ble Vice Chairmen from Yan Bai, DakLak and Nam Dinh provinces, H.E. Mr. Nguyen ChienThang,  H.E. Mr. Vu Van Hung and H.E. Mr. Tran Le Doai.

Director General for Department of Foreign Affairs for Provinces in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long

All distinguished participants

Ladies and Gentlemen!

It gives me great pleasure to have you all join us at this “Meet India 2020” programme at the turn of the New Year.

I am indeed grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam for partnering with the Embassy of India for this eventand for offering their magnificent premises to showcase India to the provinces of Vietnam.

I am also thankful to the Indian Chamber of Commerce (INCHAM)and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for joining in our efforts to present a glimpse of India’s economic capabilities and the opportunities that India presents to Vietnam.I thankrepresentatives from a number of Indian companies present here, some of whom have come all the way from India.

I am also grateful to the senior leaders and officials from more than twenty-five Provinces from different parts of Vietnam who join us today.  I thank them for their interest in India and their willingness to engage with us for a long-term partnership.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

India and Vietnam have a long tradition of close friendship built upon mutual trust and understanding. Our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership today spans across a wide-range of collaboration – covering political engagement, economic and development partnership, defence and security cooperation, energy cooperation, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts.

We have a strong legacy of close political bonds between our leaders, which continue to strengthen our modern day ties. The number of high-level visits we have exchanged in the last few years should give you an idea of the attention our relationship gets from the topmost leadership of both countries.

In the wider global and regional context, India considers Vietnam as an important pillar of our Act East Policy and a key partner in our Indo-Pacific Vision.

The task we face today is how to raise the level of our engagement in other areas to match up with the quality of our political relations.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Our economic and development partnerships have grown in strength in recent years.  However, as two fast growing economies, with youthful and aspirational societies, there is still a huge potential that remains untapped.

Just as Vietnam, India is transforming rapidly.

We are today among the six largest economies in the world. Prime Minister Modihas set avision for making India a five trillion dollar economy over the next five years. With sound economic fundamentals and some bold reforms being undertaken, we are confident of achieving this goal. 

This transformation to a New India is not limited to just economic growth.  It also includes good governance, people’s empowerment, particularly through use of technology and participation, and an inclusive and sustainable development model.

The scale of this transformation is going to create capabilities and generate demands that will offer great opportunities for other countries as well.  As one of our closest partners, we would like to see Vietnam join us in this journey of shared prosperity.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

We cannot capture the entire range of opportunities that exists in our bilateral engagement in just a half-day-long event. To map all the areas where we can cooperate will probably need a much longer discussion. 

For today’s event, we have chosen some select domainswhere we believe there is significant promise for closer engagement, based on our mutual capabilities and demands.

We have chosen sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals, engineering and energy industries, where we have proven credentials and which are also among the key investment priorities of Vietnam. There will also be a focused session on emerging areas like smart cities, where we can work to mutual benefit.

The launch of direct flights between India and Vietnam offers a perfect backdrop for our discussions on promoting tourism exchanges. Boosting tourism, in my view,can have a multiplier effect not just for our people-to-people contacts, but also for our business and investment ties. 

Similarly, we are keen to expand our long-standing development partnership with Vietnam, with Lines of Credit and grant assistance programmes,as well as capacity building initiatives,that can make meaningful contributions to the socio-economic development at the grassroots level. You will get to hear more details in one exclusive session devoted to this.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

In exploring all these possibilities, the provinces in Vietnam, just like the states in India, are important stakeholders. That’s the reason why we are meeting today – to be able to reach out to you for a long-term relationship and to hear from you about your experiences and expectations.

We also believe that today’s event is just a beginning. We would like to build on these discussions in order to achieve concrete and meaningful outcomes.  Our Embassy in Hanoi and our Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City will be happy to act as a bridge and follow up on the ideas generated today.

Lastly, I would urge you to make the best use of today’s event by also interacting on the margins and during the breaks. I am confident that you will find these networking times as fruitful as the main discussion.

I look forward to an exciting exchange of ideas over the next three and half hours and wish you all a very productive discussion.

Thank you!