Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh (right) welcomes her Indian counterpart Venkaiah Naidu in Hà Nội yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

HÀ NỘI Việt Nam and India will work together to boost trade, economics and investment.

Speaking in Hà Nội on Friday, Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh said reaching a total trade target of US$15 billion is achievable between the two countries.

She was talking during a meeting with Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.

Welcoming the guest on his first visit here, Thịnh said Việt Nam valued its friendship with India and hailed the dynamic growth of the bilateral ties, especially after the countries established a strategic partnership in 2007 and upgraded the ties to comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016.
Vice President Naidu said the two countries worked closely to implement projects to preserve the world cultural heritage of Mỹ Sơn in Việt Nam’s central province of Quảng Nam and help the Chăm ethnic people in the southern province of Ninh Thuận.
The leaders agreed to continue working together adding that defence-security co-operation was efficient and practical, hailing the organisation of the first maritime security talks in March this year and the visits of Indian naval and coast guard ships.
To reach the $15 billion trade target, they suggested putting in place a framework to sign agreements and reduce red tape.

They pointed to the need to step up investment promotion, especially in information technology, energy, renewable energy, infrastructure, hi-tech agriculture, innovation, and oil and gas production, reaching consensus on the early launch of direct air routes linking the two countries’ big cities.
They sought to speed up co-operation in training, and science-technology while showing their support for locality-to-locality partnership and youth exchange programmes.
Discussing regional and global issues, they said the two countries would work closely and support each other at regional and global multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations, as well as their run for a non-permanent member seat at the United Nations Security Council, for Việt Nam in the 2020-21 tenure and for India in the 2021-22 tenure.
Thịnh said Việt Nam supported India’s “Act East” policy and welcomed its stance on the East Sea in the past time.
She suggested India continues backing the maintenance of order in the East Sea by abiding by international law, respecting sovereignty, sovereign right, and territorial integrity, and ensuring navigation and flight freedom, security and safety; and the settlement of disputes in the sea by peaceful means in conformity with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

The same day, during the meeting with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân, Naidu said since 2016, the Vietnamese and Indian parliaments had in turn established friendship parliamentary groups in the respective countries.
Ngân said the relations between Vietnamese and Indian legislative bodies had been strengthened, making significant contributions to the enhancement of ties between the two nations.
She noted with pleasure that many leaders of foreign countries, including India, had been interested in and agreed to send high-ranking delegations to the Vesak Day 2019 in Việt Nam, illustrating their support for the host country.
The NA Chairwoman asked Naidu to promote the exchange of high-level visits between the two countries’ leaders through the Party, State, National Assembly and Government channels.
She suggested boosting people-to-people exchanges and co-operation between ministries, sectors, localities and businesses while expanding joint investment projects and upholding the role of friendship associations and friendship parliamentary groups in each country.
The two sides should increase consultations and sharing of information in addition to providing mutual support at multilateral forums and jointly making active contributions to the cooperation mechanisms of the ASEAN-India, the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the South-South Cooperation, along with the UN, regional and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms. VNS