HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam continues to be an attractive investment destination for Indian companies, Sanjay Kirloskar, chairman and managing director of Kirloskar Brothers Limited, told a conference yesterday in Hà Nội.

Indian companies run 132 projects, worth a combined of US$1.07 billion in Việt Nam, ranking 27th among foreign investors in the country, he said, adding that the majority of Indian investment came in energy, mineral exploration, agro-processing, IT and auto components.

India is one of Việt Nam’s top 10 trading partners, with two-way trade reaching $5.1 billion in 2015 and $2.9 billion in the past seven months of this year.

These figures are encouraging. But, in order to eliminate trade barriers between the two countries there are issues that must be addressed, such as infrastructure, trade facilitation, expansion of the trilateral highway – which currently includes only India, Myanmar, and Thailand, as well as reducing transaction costs, interconnectivity of goods and labour markets, he said.

However, the chairman believes that bilateral economic relations will reach greater heights in the future.

Besides implementing two projects in Việt Nam, Sanjay hoped to expand his company’s investment in the country and introduce advanced technology in pump manufacturing to contribute to reducing flooding and drought in the country’s provinces and cities, especially in HCM City and the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta.

Meanwhile, Naushad Forbes, the Confederation of Indian Industry president, said Indian firms at the conference wanted to find investment opportunities in Việt Nam, especially in energy, agriculture, finance, oil and gas, healthcare, information technology and education.

In return, he called for Vietnamese businesses to come to India to seek opportunities.

Naushad, who also chairs Forbes Marshall, an engineering and energy conservation solutions provider, lauded Việt Nam’s investment environment, saying that his company wanted to invest here.

In his speech at the event, vice chairman of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hoàng Quang Phòng agreed that the two governments should pay a greater attention to accelerating bilateral relations.

Despite several obstacles such as geographic distance, cultural differences and customers’ taste and insufficient information about each other’s market, Phòng said he believed that trade and investment ties would further develop thanks to supports from the two governments and the efforts of the two business communities. – VNS