Nghe An organizes an investment and business networking seminar in New Delhi (India)

The event aimed to promote the investment and business environment, opportunities to Indian enterprises and investors.

The leadership of Nghe An province attending the seminar included Mr. Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Central Party Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, and Head of the Provincial Delegation to the National Assembly; Mr. Pham Trong Hoang - Member of the Provincial Party Committee's Standing Committee, Chairman of the Provincial Party Committee's Inspection Commission, and a high-level delegation from Nghe An province, including leaders from various departments, sectors, and localities.

The seminar was attended by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to India. Representing the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) was Mr. Nikhil Kanodia – Chairman of the Northern region at ICC. Also present were representatives from the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various Indian businesses and entrepreneurs.

In recent years, the collaborative development between Nghe An province and Indian partners has achieved preliminary results, especially in the fields of investment and trade, contributing positively to the socioeconomic development.

Currently, there are five FDI projects from India in Nghe An, with a total committed capital of nearly USD 39 million, ranking eighth among foreign investment countries. These projects mainly focus on processing stone tiles and timber. The total import-export turnover between Nghe An and India in the first 11 months of 2023 reached nearly USD 70 million.

However, the results achieved are still not commensurate with the potential, advantages and expectations of both sides. From a mere USD 200 million in 2000, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has steadily grown over the years. According to ICC, in the fiscal year 2021-2022, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam increased by 27%, reaching USD 14.14 billion.

India is one of Vietnam's top eight trading partners, while Vietnam is India's 15th largest trading partner and its fourth largest trading partner in Southeast Asia.

In recent times, Nghe An has also achieved many successes in attracting FDI. 2023 marked the most successful year to date in attracting FDI to the province, with a total registered capital of nearly USD 1.5 billion, ranking ninth out of 63 provinces nationwide. This brought the total FDI capital by the end of 2023 to USD 3.85 billion, involving 131 projects from 14 countries and territories.

Therefore, the seminar aims to facilitate interactions and create connections for Indian enterprises to explore investment opportunities in Nghe An, particularly in sectors that the province prioritizes for attraction and where India has strengths. These include manufacturing electronic components, information technology, telecommunications, automobile component production and assembly, pharmaceutical processing, high-tech agriculture, financial services, banking, insurance, logistics, high-quality human resource training, resort tourism, ecotourism, construction, and operation of seaport infrastructure, among others.

At the seminar, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Nghe An, Mr. Thai Thanh Quy, exchanged and shared thoughts on the excellent traditional friendship between Vietnam and India. He affirmed that Nghe An always considers India as one of its significant, important partners, prioritizing cooperation and development in the present and future. This cooperation opportunity is even more significant and favorable after Vietnam and India upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016.

Nghe An province is determined to allocate adequate resources to best meet the requirements of investors, including those from India.

In particular, Secretary Thai Thanh Quy asserted that the province is making efforts to effectively implement the "5 readiness" (including planning and development space, essential infrastructure, investment land, human resources, and procedure support for investors) to attract successful, sustainable, and long-term investments in Nghe An.

At the seminar, representatives of Indian business associations, companies, and entrepreneurs watched a video introducing Nghe An province and listened to the leaders of the Provincial Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center introduce the investment attraction policies in Nghe An. Experts from the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indian Chamber of Commerce also exchanged ideas, further discussing ways to attract investments from businesses in the world's fifth-largest economy to invest in Nghe An.

Mr. C. Raj Shekhar - OSD (States), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India expressed his pleasure at witnessing the rapid development of Vietnam and Nghe An province. He stated: "We, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are committed to supporting and promoting cooperation between Nghe An and Indian states".

Meanwhile, Mr. Subhash Goyal - President of the National Committee for Tourism, Aviation, and Accommodation Services, ICC, suggested that Nghe An should continue to prioritize comprehensive development in human resources, science, technology and innovation to promote its cultural values. He further added that there is a need to facilitate visa authorization systems to encourage investment in human resources.

At the seminar, the organizers held a Q&A session and discussion. Indian enterprises showed their interest and high appreciation for the prospects of investment attraction, competitive production costs, abundant human resources, and competitive investment support policies.

Secretary Thai Thanh Quy and leaders from several departments directly answered the questions asked by Indian entrepreneurs and businesses, especially in the fields of tourism and human resource training.

Thanh Duy (from New Delhi, India)