New Delhi: India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen economic relations and work towards enhancing bilateral trade to $25 billion by 2030, according to a joint statement issued by both countries.
The joint statement was issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnam President To Lam, who is on an official visit to India.
"The two sides agreed to reinforce cooperation between the two rapidly growing economies at the level of governments and businesses for increasing two-way trade, investment, and their technological partnership," it said.
Both sides will facilitate market access, including for agricultural products such as Indian grapes and pomegranates as well as Vietnamese durians and pomelos, the statement said.
Vietnam affirmed its commitments to diversify its supply sources and to import more products from India to serve its domestic production and export needs. Both sides agreed to explore ways for a more conducive regulatory environment to facilitate ease of doing business for companies of both countries, including in standards compliance certification.
The leaders agreed that the ongoing review of the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) should be concluded at the earliest. They concurred that the resulting agreement should be mutually beneficial, trade facilitative, and relevant to current global trading practices.
The leaders reiterated the significance of digital technologies and welcomed the signing of the MoU between the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of Vietnam on financial innovation and digital payments. They agreed to promote linkages for retail payment platforms via QR Codes that would facilitate tourism and businesses of both sides.
