INTRODUCTORY REPORT
SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE
“Vietnam – India Development Cooperation on Economics”
Prof., Dr. Ta Ngoc Tan
Member of the Party Central Committee
President of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, we are here to attend the scientific conference Vietnam-India
cooperation development: An economic approach organized by the Ho Chi
Minh National Academy of Politics. This is the ever first international
scientific conference that has been held since the establishment of the India
Research Centre which was inaugurated by Indian President Pranab
Mukherjee and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Truong Tan
Sang on September 15, 2014. Together with another conference to be held in
June this year, the event will set a premise for an international conference
with larger scale under the title: “Development cooperation between Vietnam
– India – ASEAN: Reality and prospects” organized on the occasion of Indian
National Day, and on the first anniversary of the founding of the India
Research Centre.
The presence of scientists, distinguished guests, leaders, managers, and
Vietnamese and Indian businesspeople will certainly create multi-directional
voices, contributing to proving and interpreting the reality of the development
cooperation between Vietnam and India in the first years of the 21 st century
from the economic approach.
Your discussions will intensify achievements, shortcomings, and barriers
affecting the cooperation; indicate causes; and recommend solutions to
impulse the Vietnam-India cooperation in economy, trade and tourism to a
new height. On behalf of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and
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the conference’s Organizing Board, I warmly welcome and wish you all the
very best!
Your Excellencies and Distinguished Guests!
The Vietnam – India relationship has been standing on solid foundations
for long and was preserved and nourished to a new height by late President
Ho Chi Minh and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Right at the beginning of
the 21st century, the Vietnam – India relationship was improved
comprehensively. This is demonstrated through the Joint Declaration on the
framework of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries for the
21st century during the visit to India by former Party General Secretary Nong
Duc Manh in May, 2003. In July, 2007, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
paid a visit to India and the two sides signed a Joint Declaration on the
strategic partnership between Vietnam and India. This is reaffirmed during
India’s visit by President Truong Tan Sang in October 2011, the India’s visit
by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in November 2013, the
Vietnam’s visit by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in September 2014,
and the India’s visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in October, 2014.
The latest joint declaration highlighted the commitment made by two
Governments to “comprehensively develop the strategic partnership”, which
has enabled two sides to implement and expand development cooperation in
all fields. This proves that the Vietnam-India relationship is a bigger story
than what the media has covered. The commitment by two Governments is
vividly demonstrated through five pillars:
- The first pillar is political cooperation: this pillar presents the common
standpoints of two sides on international matters, especially in Southeast Asia.
Building a close relation with ASEAN remains a key priority of India and
Vietnam is one of the ASEAN significant members from the political aspect.
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- The second pillar is economic cooperation: this pillar consists of many areas
and is the backbone of all other cooperation fields. Two-way trade between
Vietnam and India is growing rapidly and has exceeded the set target of US$7
billion and is targeted to reach US$20 billion.
- The third pillar is energy cooperation: That the India’s oil and gas
corporation ONGC – Videsk (OVL) boosting up cooperation with Vietnam in
oil and gas has drawn the public attention far and wide.
- The fourth pillar is security and defense cooperation: the cooperation
includes strategic dialogues, visit exchanges, training of defense personnel,
and exchange of visits by naval forces.
- The fifth pillar is cooperation in other areas: the cooperation includes
cultural development, education and training, and tourism. Civil relationships
are also growing steadily, though they are still at modest level.
The positive development tendency in Vietnam - India relationship
originates from the general aspiration to bring about prosperity for both
countries and to bring about peace, stability and prosperity for Southeast Asia.
Based on achievements obtained over the past time, it is obvious that the
development cooperation between Vietnam and India hasn’t matched the
potential of each side, especially in the fields of economy, trade and tourism.
Therefore, to make this conference obtain certain achievements, I kindly
request you all to focus on discussing major contents as follows:
1. Internal and external context, the importance of the partnership,
development between Viet Nam and India.
2. To properly assess the reality of the development cooperation between
Vietnam and India in the economic area.
3. To deeply interpret what we have and haven’t achieved as well as
reasons why the cooperation hasn’t matched the potential of each country.
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4. To thoroughly analyze barriers restricting the development of Vietnam
– India partnership, such as: approaches to geopolitics and geo-economics by
countries; external impacts on the relationship between two sides; geographic
distance and infrastructure and traffic conditions; legal framework and trade
policies; the similarities and differences in culture and business habits; and
the dynamic role of Vietnamese and Indian enterprises.
5. Prosperity, direction, and recommendations, solutions to promote the
development of Vietnam - India cooperation in the economic area in the
coming time.
Once again, I would like to express my sincere thanks to your presence
at this conference! I wish you all, Indian and Vietnamese, health and
happiness! I wish the conference “Vietnam-Indian development cooperation:
an economic approach” great success!
THANH YOU!
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