NEW DELHI (Biz Hub) — India is a potential market for Vietnamese export farming products and cooperation in agricultural development, deputy minister of agriculture and rural development Vu Van Tam said at the Viet Nam-India business meeting.

During the event in New Delhi on Tuesday, the representatives of Vietnamese enterprises briefed the hosts on the production and export of coffee, tea and dragon fruit in Viet Nam.

Tam underlined the potential for the two nations' cooperation in agriculture, saying that the sector had been buoyed by traditional cooperative ties.

Over recent years, India had provided support for Viet Nam in training human resources and technology transfers in animal farming and other fields, Tam noted.

The 1.27-billion-people market of India offered huge potentials for Vietnamese agricultural products, such as tea, coffee, dragon fruit and aquatic products, he said.

Vietnamese aquatic products, which have been so far shipped to Japan, the EU, the US and the Republic of Korea, are expected to enter the Indian market and contribute to fostering economic and trade cooperation between Viet Nam and India.

Also at the event, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO)'s President S C Ralhan said that Viet Nam was an important partner of India in the Southeast Asian region, adding that bilateral trade between the two nations had increased year-on-year.

Viet Nam had actively participated in a number of regional and global organisations and forums, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East Asian Summit (EAS), the Asian European Meeting (ASEM) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), he said.

The FIEO President also pledged to support Vietnamese enterprises entering Indian markets.

Meanwhile, Tam highly appreciated India's role in the trade, and the growth of Viet Nam's economy, in general, and the agricultural sector, in particular.

The Vietnamese government has continuously offered incentives for domestic trade promotion activities to boost bilateral and multilateral cooperation with international partners, including Indian firms, Tam said.

He expressed his hope that Indian state offices would assist agricultural exports in both countries, especially exports of Vietnamese coffee, tea and dragon fruits to India.

During the meeting, Ambassador of Viet Nam in India Ton Sinh Thanh highlighted the trade and investment potentials between the two nations. He suggested the two governments develop a comprehensive agricultural cooperation programme, as well as boost business exchanges.

The meeting, jointly organised by Viet Nam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Embassy of Viet Nam in India and the FIEO, forms part of the activities of MARD's 2015 trade promotion programme. — VNS