On Monday afternoon, Da Nang People's Committee Vice Chairman Le Trung Chinh played host to a group of naval officers and crew members from the Indian Coast Guard ship VIJIT, led by its captain Col T Ashish.

During his reception for the Indian guests, Vice Chairman Chinh remarked his city was one of the country’s localities with rapid economic growth.

He added, in recent years, the city’s annual economic growth rate has reached between 7 and 8%. In 2018, the export turnover between Da Nang and India hit around 2.5 million USD, up 9% against 2017, whilst the import turnover generated 80 million USD, a rise of 7% against 2017.

The city leader emphasised Viet Nam and India have established a comprehensive strategic partnership. Notably, the bilateral defence relations have been strengthened over the past years.

In reply, Col T Ashish thanked the Da Nang leader for his warm welcome, saying that he was very impressed by the beauty of the city’s landscape and the friendliness of local residents.

The Indian captain expressed his belief that this visit would help to increase the friendship, mutual understanding and trust between coast guard forces of the two countries.

He hoped that the bilateral cooperative relations between the coast guard forces of the two countries would be lifted to a new height in the coming time, and the forces would coordinate and support each other in search and rescue activities at sea.