India and Vietnam on Tuesday, held the fifth meeting of Joint Trade Sub-Commission (JTSC) in New Delhi, where the two countries discussed the challenges in logistics that affect their bilateral trade. The two nations concurred on the importance of addressing these challenges and expressed a mutual interest in exploring solutions such as direct shipping services, collaborative freight movement, and improving air connectivity.

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As per the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the meeting was held after a gap of more than four years since 4th JTSC meeting held in January 2019, due to Covid-19 and other factors. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry from India and Phan Thi Thang, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade from Vietnam co-headed the meeting.

During the meeting, India and Vietnam reviewed the progress on bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The two nations identified potential sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, textiles, footwear, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilizers, machinery and equipment, consumer products, energy and automobile industry to expand trade cooperation. The two sides also agreed to work together to resolve market access issues and technical barriers faced by the exporters through regular and sustained bilateral discussions.

India raised the issue of pending registration of Indian fishery and meat establishments for export. The issues related to restricted market access in public procurement of drugs for Indian pharmaceutical companies and high anti-dumping duties imposed on Indian polyester filament yarn products and sorbitol were also raised by India, during the meeting.

Potential for cooperation in various sectors i.e., service sector, IT, finance, education, tourism, healthcare, tele-medicine, medical tourism and startup ecosystem was highlighted by India. India also suggested Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on professional services, internationalisation of RuPay card, QR based payment system, and domestic currency trade settlement, according to a release by Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Currently, Vietnam is twenty-third largest bilateral trade partner of India that participated in bilateral trade totalling $14.7 billion during 2022-23. Vietnam is the fifth largest trade partner of India among ASEAN countries that accounted for 11.2 percent of India’s total trade with ASEAN. Vietnam is an important destination for India’s iron & steel and agricultural and animal products mainly meat products, animal fodder, cereals and marine products, as per the release.

(Edited by : Anushka Sharma)