Where does India stand in this? In records kept by Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment, India ranks 39 in its investment table, behind countrieslike Belarus and Panama, with a solitary commitment of $7 million by KEC International Ltd, which is part of the R.P. Goenka group. The KEC International chief, K. Ranganathan has already moved to Hanoi.
Today, Indo-Vietnamese bilateral trade officially stands at about $100 million annually. The real figure, industry sources say, is three to four times. A great deal of Indian exports come through third countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy and Germany.
The Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, S.L. Malik, says Siemens India had sold X-ray equipment to Vietnam through Germany and Ashok Leyland sold buses through the Italian firm Iveco. Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd, a Hyderabad-basedfirm, is building a $30 million sugar factory in Long An province in south Vietnam. But its investment has been routed through Singapore-registered Nagarjuna Holdings Vietnam Pvt Ltd.
The R.P. Goenka group looks set to be the largest Indian investors in Vietnam. Its subsidiary, CEAT Ltd, is negotiating with the state-owned Consumer & Industrial Chemical Co to invest $50 million in an automobile tyre plant in Danang, central Vietnam.
Indian investment proposals range from areas as diverse as generating electricity from garbage to sugar mills to tyres and power transmission towers. Most of these deals were signed after Narasimha Rao's visit to Vietnam.
And to call attention to a less gloomy aspect, if all the Indian and NRI investment proposals worth $350 million in the pipeline are cleared, India will be pitchforked into the ranks of the top 15 foreign investors in Vietnam. Trouble is, as things stand, there are more than a fair share of ifs and buts en route.