A delegation of Bengal Initiative, a century-old business forum working on trade opportunities between India and Asian countries, is paying a visit to Vietnam from April 7-13 to enhance bilateral trade ties.

The delegation, headed by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, includes politicians, businesses, officials, lawyers and doctors. It had a meeting with Tran Trong Khanh, Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and leaders of the Vietnam-India Friendship Organisation, on April 9.

Bengal Initiative was founded in 1906. In the recent past, it has undertaken several goodwill missions to South and Southeast Asian countries with the aim of developing strong economic ties.

Last year, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya visited Vietnam to develop economic and cultural links between these two emerging investment destinations.