On Thursday, as part of their ongoing working visit to India, a group of Da Nang’s leaders, led by municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary Vo Cong Tri, held a discussion with representatives from Indian businesses involved in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.  Also present at the event were representatives from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Deputy Secretary Tri (5th left), other Da Nang guests, and representatives from FICCI

Addressing the event, Deputy Secretary Tri proudly remarked that Da Nang has been placed top in the Viet Nam Provincial Competitiveness Index and Viet Nam’s 2016 ICT applications and development readiness rankings for many consecutive years.  These achievements demonstrated that the city has always made great efforts to improve its investment and business environment to attract more domestic and foreign investors, including those from India.

Deputy Secretary Tri said he would like FICCI and Indian IT businesses to share their valuable experiences in promoting IT development, especially in developing high-quality human resources in IT for Da Nang, as well as to assist the city in developing more effective investment promotion policies and mechanisms in the years ahead.

He also pledged that the Da Nang authorities would facilitate administrative procedures relating to the establishment of Indian-invested businesses in the city and the granting of work permits for Indian nationals, thereby helping in the appeal for more experts and highly skilled human resources from India.

In reply, Ms Gunveena Chadha, Assistant Secretary General of FICCI, hoped that more Indian businesses would invest in Da Nang, especially in ICT and in developing hi-quality human resources.

She also proposed that, in the years ahead, the Da Nang authorities should enhance investment promotion activities in the Indian market, and open more information channels for Indian investors to learn more about the city’s investment climate and its preferential policies for foreign businesses.

Ms Gunveena Chadha also briefed her Da Nang guests on the FICCI-initiated India-ASEAN Startups Awards 2017.  The awards will identify and acknowledge cutting-edge start-ups evolving in the ASEAN region that are creating innovative technological solutions to solve real life problems, creating job opportunities with unique skill sets, nurturing competitive talent, and fuelling the growth of the Indian economy.  The awardees will be honoured during the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit to be held in New Delhi later this year.  She encouraged the Da Nang leaders to introduce local outstanding start-up businesses to the contest’s organisers for the selection and nomination processes.

Also at the seminar, representatives from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), which is a trade association of Indian IT and the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, shared their experiences in developing IT.

On the same day, the Da Nang visitors met and worked with representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in India and the Indian Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.

The Da Nang guests meet with officials from the Indian Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology

The Da Nang guests also worked with Mr Gulshan Sharma, the Director General of India’s International Chamber of Service Industries (ICSI), to discuss the establishment of a school for providing business skills courses in Da Nang in the future.

To mark the occasion, Mr Gulshan Sharma announced the granting of scholarships for 5 students who want to study in India for Bachelor’s degrees in aviation, tourism and hotel management.  He also affirmed ICSI’s willingness to cooperate with the University of Da Nang in offering business skills training programmes for local students and businesses.

Earlier, on 17 July, the visiting group had met with representatives from the Authority of Software Technology Parks of India and Infosys Limited, which is an Indian multi-national corporation that provides business consultation, and IT and outsourcing services.  The intention was to introduce Da Nang’s investment environment to these Indian entities in a bid to appeal for more Indian investment inflows into the city. 

During the event, Deputy Secretary Tri remarked that both Da Nang and India boasts the same potentials and strengths in the IT sector.  He hoped that India would send more delegations of Indian businesses to Da Nang to seek investment opportunities in the city, especially in IT.