Hanoi: In a move to strengthen economic ties, the Indian Auto Components Manufacturers Association (ACMA) is exploring investment, trade and business opportunities in Vietnam.

To promote cooperation between the buyers and sellers in the auto industry of the two countries, the Embassy of India in Hanoi in coordination with Vietnam's Invest Global Investment Advisory and Information Centre (Association of Foreign Investment Enterprises - VAFIE) organized a B2B event "India Vietnam Business Meet on Auto Sector" on August 22 in Hanoi.

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Quang Vinh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that over the years, auto parts and components have always been among the top products that Vietnam imports from India.

"Import volume has increased gradually over the years, despite the generally difficult situation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic to the world economy," added Nguyen.

ACMA is leading a delegation of young entrepreneurs from 28 Indian auto parts manufacturers to Vietnam from August 21-26 to visit and work with Vietnam's large automobile assembly enterprises and enterprises in the supply chain of producing auto parts for Vietnam.

In 2021, Vietnam's import volume of auto parts and accessories from India reached over 290 million USD and will continue to increase this year with statistics in the first 7 months of 2022 reaching over 185 million USD.

Nguyen encouraged Indian investors to expand investment to Vietnam in fields where India has strengths, especially supporting industries, mechanical engineering, auto parts, etc.

Major players in the Auto Industry in Vietnam gave presentations and invited the ACMA to invest in Vietnam. On the sidelines of the B2B meeting, Representatives of the Association of Foreign Investors in Vietnam and the ACMA signed an MoU on cooperation in the auto sector.

Along with exploring investment, business and joint venture opportunities in Vietnam, the young Indian business delegation will have visits to manufacturing plants (OEMs), solar panel factories (Tier 1), manufacturing research and development companies related to the automotive industry and industrial parks, economic zones, etc. to better understand the current situation of the automobile industry in Vietnam.

ACMA is the leading association in India with more than 800 members contributing 85 per cent of revenue in the Indian auto parts industry.

Through the visit to Vietnam, ACMA wishes to explore investment, trade and business opportunities in Vietnam. The visit provided good opportunity for businesses of the two countries to find partners, exchange business cooperation opportunities, learn new technologies and equipment and spare parts in the automotive industry.

In the auto industry, Vietnam and India are very complementary. Some Indian businesses have been present in Vietnam with investment projects such as Uno Minda, Spark Minda and Star Engineering which are operating very effectively.