5th India-Vietnam Joint Trade Sub-Commission Meeting

The 5th meeting of India-Vietnam Joint Trade Sub-Commission (JTSC) was held in New Delhi on 8th August. The meeting was co-chaired by the Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Shri Rajesh Agrawal from the Indian side and Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ms. Phan Thi Thang from the Vietnam side. 

Vietnam is the 23rd largest global trade partner of India and the 5th largest among ASEAN countries with bilateral trade of USD 14.70 Billon during 2022-23. Vietnam accounts for 11.2% of India’s total trade with ASEAN. 

Important outcome of meeting

• Vietnam is an important destination for India’s iron & steel and agricultural and animal products mainly meat products, animal fodder, cereals and marine products.
• Both sides identified potential sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, textiles, footwear, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, machinery and equipment, consumer products, energy and automobile industry, for expanding trade cooperation and agreed to work together to resolve market access issues and technical barriers faced by the exporters through regular and sustained bilateral discussions.
• The Indian side raised the issues of pending registration of Indian fishery and meat establishments for export, restricted market access in public procurement of drugs for Indian pharmaceutical companies and high anti-dumping duties imposed on Indian polyster filament yarn products and sorbitol.
• The Indian side highlighted the potential in service sector cooperation and suggested cooperation in IT, financial services, education sector, tourism, healthcare, tele-medicine, medical tourism and start-up ecosystem. The Indian side also suggested Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on professional services, internationalization of RuPay card, QR based payment system, and domestic currency trade settlement.
• Both sides discussed logistics challenges affecting bilateral trade and agreed to continue efforts for exploring direct shipping services, collaboration in freight movement and improving air connectivity.

About Vietnam

• Vietnam, a country occupying the eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia.
• The capital, Hanoi, is located in the north, while the country’s largest city, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), is in the south.
• From north to south the uplands of northern Vietnam can be divided into two distinct regions—the area north of the Red River and the massif that extends south of the Red River into neighboring Laos.
• Currency is  Vietnamese dong.
• Võ Văn Thưởng is the current President of Vietnam after being appointed by the National Assembly on 2 March 2023.