New Delhi (VNA) – A seminar introducingcooperation potential between Vietnam and India in the domains of agricultureand processed food was organised on January 18 as part of the ongoing GlobalFood & Beverage Show of India inUttar Pradesh, India.

The event saw the participation of representatives from management agencies andfood companies, and those specialising in exporting and importing ago-aquacultureproducts and processed food from the two countries.

Addressing the event, Santosh Kumar Sarangi from India’s Ministry of Industryand Trade highlighted the recent impressive growth in two-way trade, and suddenlydevelopment of cooperation in processed food between the two nations.

Nguyen Le Thanh from the Vietnamese Embassy in India thanked the two countries’ministries of industry and trade for organising the event, stressing that theeconomic and trade bond between the two countries has recorded fruitful resultsapart from their diplomatic and defence ties.

Meanwhile, Do Huu Huy from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade proposedmeasures to expand bilateral trade, emphasising the need to forge exchange ofvisits, information sharing, and organisation of trade fairs.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam-India trade hit7.63 billion USD in 2017, up 41 percent year-on-year, and five times higherthan that of 2007.

Vietnam imports aquatic products, vegetables and animal feed from India whileexporting coffee, pepper, cashew nut and seafood to the Southern Asia country.

Vietnam’s export turnover to India surged by 21 times, from 180 million USD in2007 to 3.76 billion USD in 2017.

In the framework of the Show, a number of programmes were also arranged tointroduce opportunities and potential for the development of food and beveragesindustry in India.

Events to promote exchange with India exporters were included, making it easyfor participants to seek partners and business opportunities.

Food and beverages industry is one of the important sectors that India givespriority to. The country is now the world leading producer of many agriculturalcommodities such as milk, rice, wheat, tea, cane sugar and spice.

India’s food processing industry values at 258 billion USD, and the country’sfood market attracted 6.82 billion USD in foreign direct investment in the period2000-2016. India’s agricultural product and food export is forecast to reach 70billion USD in 2020. -VNA