ETW STAFF – Kolkata
The Union Tourism Minister, K Chiranjeevi has stressed on strengthening of ties with Vietnam. Speaking at a seminar on Trade and Investment organised by the Embassy of India in Hanoi in coordination with Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chiranjeevi said, “We stand ready to add more content to our ‘Strategic Partnership’, especially in economic, commercial, defence and security, scientific and technical and cultural fields.”
The minister has emphasised on increasing bilateral trade and said, “We have set a target of US$100 billion for ASEAN-India trade by 2015. The ASEAN-India FTA in goods and the conclusion of negotiation on the ASEAN-India FTA in services and investments have laid the foundations for an ASEAN India Free Trade Area, comprising 1.8 billion people and a combined GDP of US$ 3.8 billion.”
The seminar was attended by Phung Tan Viet, vice chairman of People’s Committee of Danang, Hoang Van Dung, vice chairman of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nguyen Van Tuan, chairman of Vietnam National Tourism Administration and representatives of about 150 Vietnamese companies.
The minister also held bilateral discussion with Nguyen Van Tuan. During the discussion, Chiranjeevi said that the potential for cooperation between the two countries in tourism is very big and proposed that government authorities of both the countries should give the lead to promote cooperation among tour operators in both Vietnam and India.
He requested Vietnam to introduce a good package for film making delegations from India so that they can come and shoot films in their country. He invited the Vietnamese delegation to participate in the Indian International Tourism Mart which will be held later this month in Guwahati.
