India-Vietnam trade doubles to $817.68 mln

New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) India's trade with Vietnam almost doubled in three years touching a level of 817.68 million dollars from 448.65 million dollars in 2003-04.

This was indicated at a meeting here between Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath and Mr Hoang Trung Hai, Minister of Industry of Vietnam.

Both the Ministers expressed satisfaction at the significant upward trend in bilateral trade and observed that the volume of trade would increase further with the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN.

During April-July this year, trade between India and Vietnam stood at 310.69 million dollars, comprising 251.65 million dollars worth of exports to Vietnam and 59.04 million dollars worth of imports from the latter.

Vietnamese Minister also sought possibilities of bilateral cooperation in investment, especially in sectors like Information Technology and Pharmaceuticals.

Indian investments in Vietnam are currently valued at 125 million dollars with considerable scope for increasing it further, both sides noted.

UNI PV DKS HT2037