Opportunities await Vietnam and Japan’s economic partnership: PM

Speaking at the Vietnam-Japan High-Level Economic Conference on Tuesday in Hanoi in celebration of 50 years of bilateral diplomatic ties, Chinh urged Japanese companies to expand their investment into Vietnamese infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, high-quality agriculture, smart cities, financial services, and banking.

He noted briefly that qualified Japanese businesses should also consider partnering with their Vietnamese counterparts in new fields such as digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy and climate change response.

Vietnam also expects Japan to strengthen its training of high-quality human resources and scientists to help Vietnam become a hub for regional and global value chains.

The PM affirmed that the Vietnamese government always creates all favorable conditions for Japanese investors to operate successfully, sustainably and long-term in Vietnam.

Hideo Ichikawa, co-chair of the Japan-Vietnam Economic Committee under the Federation of Japanese Economic Organizations, said that Vietnam is currently an important gateway connecting ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to the world and an attractive market.

He said he appreciated the efforts of the Vietnamese government in listening to the voices of businesses and building a favorable business environment for private companies, including those from Japan.

A recent survey by the Japan Trade Promotion Organization (JETRO) showed that in the next 1-2 years, 60% of Japanese enterprises said they would expand their business in Vietnam. In contrast, the number of Vietnamese in Japan is around 500,000 people, one of the largest foreign communities in this country.

PM Chinh said that determination, seriousness and trust are the factors that have helped the two countries cooperate successfully for the better part of a century.

Trade cooperation between the two countries have been comprehensively promoted in recent years, Chinh said. The two sides have built many legal frameworks for bilateral relations, he added.

They are both members of many major agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

These trade pacts create an important corridor to promote investment and business relations in the spirit of mutual benefit and complementarity, the PM said.

After more than 30 years of providing Official Development Assistance to Vietnam, Japan has become Vietnam’s leading donor country with over JPY2.7 trillion ($19.91 billion) in loans, nearly JPY100 billion in grant aid and JPY180 billion yen in technical cooperation, according to data from Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning & Investment.

This capital makes important contributions to the development of large-scale infrastructure projects such as Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports, Cai Lan, Lach Huyen and Cai Mep – Thi Vai seaports, Thanh Tri and Nhat Tan Bridges, and metro lines in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Japan has more than 5,000 active projects in Vietnam with a total capital of nearly $70 billion, ranking third out of 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Vietnam has 104 investment projects in Japan with registered capital of $19.2 million, ranking 36th out of 79 countries and territories where Vietnam invests.

Bilateral trade last year reached a total value of nearly $50 billion, making Japan the fourth largest trading partner of Vietnam. Vietnam exported nearly $25 billion in goods to Japan.