Vietnam:
Vietnam, a country known for its exquisitely beautiful places and rich food, is emerging as an attractive tourism and business destination for Indians. The incentive of cheap manufacturing and an untapped market is also helping in bringing Indian companies to Vietnam in big numbers.
"When you compare it to Singapore and other destinations, certainly Vietnam is very economical destination as far as rupee is concerned, the food is very good, very economical, we got a lot of things to see here and explore," says Alex, a software professional from Bengaluru, who is visiting the country for the first time with his family.
Last year, 54 thousand Indians visited Vietnam. Two lakh Vietnamese people visited India in the same year - half of them were overseas Vietnamese. But that number is likely to increase when direct flights operate between the two countries. Currently, only Jet Airways operates flights to Ho Chi Minh City from New Delhi and Mumbai via Bangkok.
"This time a lot of Indians came to Vietnam, Vietnam is very safe for tourists, secondly there are lots of very nice places to see", said Lee, a Vietnamese Tour Operator.
Vietnam is positioning itself as an important destination for Indians, but more importantly it is drawing business and commerce in a big way, like for instance, 12 Kashmiri companies have set up shop in Vietnam Just last year.
Nadeem shut his business in Dubai to open shop of Kashmir handicrafts in Ho Chi Minh City.
"I have worked in all almost all the countries, Vietnam is a new territory for me, I thought let me try my luck here, the response is very good," said Nadeem.