Ninad Karpe makes headway at India — Vietnam forum
HCMC - On 13th September, Ho Chi Minh City, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam (VCCI) in collaboration with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (FICCI) held "India-Vietnam Trade and Business Investment Forum". Abhay Thakur, Indian consul general in HCMC, pointed out diverse investment areas in Vietnam that are attractive to Indian companies, including infrastructure, power, information technology, auto-components, banking and finance, and minerals.
VCCI and FICCI organized the event for nearly 20 representatives of visiting Indian companies to meet with their local counterparts in HCMC as well as the Mekong Delta provinces of Vinh Long, Dong Thap and Tra Vinh.
Ninad Karpe, leader of the FICCI delegation and CEO of I.T. training giant Aptech Ltd., said he hoped the forum would help Indian and Vietnamese companies create new business partnerships. Karpe told the Daily at the forum that many participants of the large delegation were visiting Vietnam with their viable plans to invest and do business in this country.
The strong interest made Karpe believe that the delegation would reap good results when they wrapped up their trip. "We are hoping that by Friday we will have some in-principle partnerships between our delegation from India and Vietnamese businesses."
Karpe, who is also CEO and managing director of Aptech Global Learning Solutions, said Indian businesses were looking to partner with Vietnamese partnerships and invest in small to large-sized projects depending on sectors in this market.
"I think the opportunity (for partnerships and investment) is there and they will have good partnerships," Karpe said, adding that his delegation had received keen interest from Vietnamese companies.
Karpe said with its young, fast-learning, and large workforce and cheaper production costs than India and China, Vietnam was also a promising investment destination for I.T. companies. Many large global I.T. companies like Intel, IBM, and Samsung had already invested in the country, he pointed out.
Karpe said now was the right time for the emerging countries like India and Vietnam as well as their enterprises to work together to become stronger and weather the impact of uncertainties in developed countries.
He assured that many Indian companies were well-positioned to invest in Vietnam, a market that can serve as a springboard for enterprises from that country to grow and penetrate the ASEAN market of around 600 million people.
Indian consul general Thakur said in support of Karpe's view that overseas investments by Indian companies in the 2010-2011 financial year jumped by 144% to US$43.9 billion, from about US$18 billion in 2009-2010.
