Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang has proposed the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) open its doors to high-quality farm produce from Vietnam, mainly fresh fruits, heard a working session between the Vietnamese official and Mohit Singla, chairman of the TPCI, on Tuesday.

The session was part of the fifth meeting of the Vietnam-India Joint Sub-Commission on Trade co-chaired by Deputy Minister Thang and Additional Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry Rajesh Agrawal in New Delhi on the same day.

Thang hinted at helping Vietnamese exporters study the Indian market and holding trade fairs and exhibitions to introduce safe, standardized Vietnamese fruits.

Dragon fruit is Vietnam’s only fresh fruit to be allowed to enter India, Deputy Minister Thang said, adding that she expected the TPCI to support Vietnam with agricultural product promotion activities to beef up dragon fruit consumption in the nation.

She proposed the TPCI urge the Indian government to remove trade barriers against Vietnamese fruits as soon as possible.

At a meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to India Nguyen Thanh Hai, she requested him to keep closely working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to bolster trade promotion activities in India and strive to lift India’s trade barriers against Vietnamese products.

It is vital to create favorable conditions to ship Vietnam’s potential products, especially fresh fruits, to India, she stressed.

Besides, Thang proposed the Indian side smooth the way for Vietnamese airlines to open more air routes between Vietnam’s big cities and India to develop tourism.

The TPCI chairman said that he would forward these propositions to the Indian government to erase challenges facing Vietnamese firms.

Speaking at the Vietnam - India Business Forum held on the same day, Deputy Minister Thang said that the two nations should strengthen cooperation in the agricultural, fishery, apparel, footwear, pharmaceutical, fertilizer, machinery, and household appliance spheres.

She also emphasized the importance of technology application and digitalization, suggesting joining hands to evolve the logistics sector by opening direct transport routes to save cost and time.

Furthermore, she said that Vietnam always encourages Indian investors to expand their operations in the food processing, automobile manufacturing, electronics, infrastructure, and e-commerce fields in the Southeast Asian country. 

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