H.E. Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) of Vietnam paid a 5-day official visit to India from December 15 to 19, 2021. India and Vietnam are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2022 and the 5th anniversary of the Indo-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021.
-Signed Letter of Intent for Postal Sector
In line with the comprehensive strategic and economic partnership and growing relations between the Republic of India and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Ministers of both countries signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ for enhanced cooperation in the Postal Sector.
i.The Letter of Intent recognises the joint objectives of both the countries to assist cooperation in the field of Posts and Telecom.
ii.It will also promote sharing of information and experience, cooperate to implement projects in Human Resource Development and promote enhanced cooperation of postal designated operators and service providers of both the countries.
iii.Vineet Pandey, Secretary (Posts) and Trieu Minh Long, Director General of International Cooperation Department, MIC (Ministry of Information and Communication), Vietnam also participated.
-MoU Signed to promote scientific and technical cooperation in marine science and ecology
i.Tran Hong Ha, Vietnam Natural resources & Environment Minister, and Jitendra Singh, Union Minister for Science & Technology, signed the first-ever MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to promote the scientific and technical cooperation in marine science and ecology.
- This MoU would remain valid for a period of 5 years and shall be automatically renewed for the subsequent period of 5 years only once.
ii.Both the misters also discussed ocean and marine related collaboration between the nations. The bilateral agreement will lead to information and resource sharing related to shoreline change, sediment transport rate, and coastal protection measures.
iii.The key areas of the agreement include coastal erosion and vulnerability, coastal management, monitoring and mapping marine ecology and critical habitats, ocean observation system, marine pollution and microplastics, marine weather forecast, and capacity building.
iv.The Vietnamese delegation which was led by Tran Hong Ha includes – deputy Director General of the Departments of International Cooperation of the Government of Vietnam, Tuan Negoc Le; the head of the Science and Technology Office of the Vietnamese Embassy, Li Truong Giang; and the representative officer Science and Technology Vietnamese Embassy in India, Andy Bui.
v.The Indian delegation led by Jitendra Singh includes M Ravichandran, Secretary in Ministry of Earth Sciences; Indira Murthy, Joint Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences; Vijay Kumar, Scientist Ministry of Earth Science; among others.
-12 MoUs Signed Between Vietnam and Indian Companies
12 MoUs were signed between Vietnamese and Indian companies in the areas of education, pharmaceutical materials, drug and vaccine production, information technology and technology transfer, and oil and gas.
- The 12 MoUs were signed between Vietnamese and Indian enterprises at a Vietnam India Business Forum which was organised by the Embassy of Vietnam and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- The MoUs were signed in the presence of Vuong Dinh Hue, President of the National Assembly of Vietnam who is on an official visit to India from December 15-18, 2021.
About the Trade and Investment Cooperation:
i.The diplomatic relations between both the nations had started in 1972, and evolved over time into a Strategic Partnership in 2007 and further into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016.
ii.Investment in Vietnam: India has more than 315 active projects in Vietnam, totalling nearly $ 1 billion in investment capital, and ranking 26th out of 141 countries investing in Vietnam.
- 54.5 percent of the capital’s economy is made up of processing and manufacturing industries.
iii.Trade: In terms of trade, the two-way turnover in the first 10 months of 2021 reached nearly $11 billion, increased by nearly 40% y-o-y (year-on-year) and surpassed the total trade turnover of 2020.
- Vietnam is India’s 4th-largest trading partner in ASEAN, while India is among Vietnam’s top 10 biggest trade.
iv.The companies such as ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), Essar, Hinduja, Bharat Biotech, Adani, Trivitron, Biocon, HCL and Indian Oil also participated in a B2B (business-to-business) programme to exchange information for cooperation.
v.The event was attended by Tran Duy Dong, Vice Minister in the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam along with Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.
-Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi met MoCST of Vietnam H.E. Nguyen Van Hung
On December, 17, 2021 Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi met H.E. Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) of Vietnam, accompanied by Nguyen Phuong Hoa, Director General, International Cooperation Department, MoCST, in New Delhi and discussed various cultural cooperation issues.
i.A book titled ‘Cham Sculptures from Vietnam and their Interface with the Indian Art (from the Collection DàNẵng Museum of Cham Sculptures)’ which was co-authored by Indian and Vietnamese experts was presented by Meenakashi Lekhi to H.E. Nguyen Van Hung as a testimony to cultural bonding between the two nations.
ii.The book has been published in 2013 under MoU signed between the National Museum Institute of India (NMI) and the Da Nang Museum of Vietnam.
Recent Related News:
India and Vietnam had conducted a Bilateral maritime exercise in the South China Sea as a part of maritime cooperation between the two countries. India was represented by INS Ranvijay and INS Kora & Vietnam was represented by Vietnam’s People’s Navy (VPN) frigate VPNS Ly Thai To(HQ-012)
About Vietnam:
Capital – Hanoi
Currency – Vietnamese dong
President – Nguyen Xuan Phuc
