Vice President Hamid Ansari meets Cambodian leaders, pledges more Indian investment

With commerce, culture and connectivity driving India-ASEAN relations, Vice President Hamid Ansari on Wednesday said the ties were poised to scale new heights as he held talks with top Cambodian leadership in Phnom Penh to boost investment to bolster India's engagement in the region.

Ansari, who is here on a three-day visit, held wide- ranging talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace which was followed by delegation-level parleys and signing of two MoUs - one on tourism and the other on "quick impact projects".

Under the MoU on "quick impact projects" undertaken by India, there were five projects in all as part of the Mekong- Ganga Cooperation initiative two in healthcare, one on women's empowerment through information and communication technology, one on agriculture and a fifth on a USD 50,000 grant by India for the entrepreneur development centre in existence since 2004.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Ansari conveyed the decision of the Indian government to support several projects under the cooperation programme targeting the health sector, agriculture and women's empowerment.

"We hope that these projects would benefit local communities, and contribute to improvement of public welfare," Ansari said in an address delivered at the Office of the Council of Ministers, the first such address by a top foreign leader.

Both sides discussed possibilities of shoring up of trade and investment, and agreed that the bilateral investment protection agreement must be signed as soon as possible, Secretary East Anil Wadhwa told a media briefing.

In the ASEAN context, there was a mention of last year's announcement by India of a USD 1 billion seed capital for connectivity projects, Wadhwa said. Talking about India-ASEAN ties, Ansari in his address said, "the current economic relationship between India and ASEAN countries presents a multitude of industrial, commercial, and investment opportunities."

Noting that Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam - countries among the ASEAN partners of particular interest to India, Ansari said these countries include some of the fastest-growing economies in the region and are primarily agrarian, enjoying a certain degree of macroeconomic stability in recent years, with vast potential for future development.

"This creates strong complementary interests between India and the countries in the region on the basis of a tripod: Commerce, Culture and Connectivity. These are sustained by more frequent political exchanges. The India- ASEAN relations are thus poised to scale new heights," the Vice President asserted.

"My visit to Cambodia underscores the importance India attaches to Cambodia as part of our increasing engagement with the region," he said.

"Geographically, Cambodia lies at the heart of ASEAN. For us in India, our relationship with Cambodia is a key element of our engagement with ASEAN," Ansari said, adding that India looks forward to Cambodia's strong support in building bridges and deepening of its relationship with the entire region.

Talking about measures for shoring up bilateral trade and investment, the Vice President stated in his address that the government has recently set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to attract Indian investments into Cambodia besides Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV nations).

"We hope to launch this new initiative soon and I am confident that in the near future, more Indian companies will explore the investment opportunities here," Ansari told the audience that included ministers, top officials, and university and school students.

Highlighting that in recent months India has enhanced its engagement in the East, Ansari said the intent to do so was reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks last year at the India-ASEAN summit at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar in which he had declared that "India's 'Look East Policy' has become 'Act East Policy'".

The Vice President said: "As India embarks on the new phase of its Act East Policy, and as Cambodia prepares for successfully integrating economically in to the ASEAN community, we hope to work with our Cambodian partners to realise this potential."

ASEAN and India earlier this year reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen and advance the strategic partnership and agreed to step up cooperation. Ansari also met Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, National Assembly President Heng Samrin and called on Acting Head of State and President of the Senate Say Chhum.

Noting that there was a good scope for sharing experiences for mutual benefit between the two countries, he pointed out that agriculture and agro-processing sector, mining, oil and gas and small and medium enterprises offers opportunities for trade and investment by Indian businesses. It will be India's endeavour to encourage its companies and businesses to explore the emerging opportunities in these areas, he said, adding that for this, support from not only the Cambodian government but businesses here would be also needed.

Another area of cooperation is the defence sector, he said.

"India is happy to have been involved in training efforts for the Cambodian defence forces. We will continue and enhance these training efforts," he added.

Stressing that the spreading tide of extremism and terrorism is a menace both countries face, Ansari said that successfully dealing with such threats requires strong cooperation among like-minded partners.

"I am glad that we have taken some steps to institutionalise cooperation in this area. We will continue to pursue more regular exchanges between our security personnel," he said.