Japanese Ambassador Warns Vietnam of Weak Supporting Industry
Underdeveloped supporting industry is the biggest barrier for Vietnam to fulfill the set goal of becoming an industrialized country by 2020, according to Japanese Ambassador Mitsuo Sakaba.
The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) scheduled to take effect in 2015 will offer big opportunities for Vietnam, he said, however, noting that if the national manufacturing industry still lags behinds, foreign investors will leave Vietnam.
Only a small number of Vietnamese spare parts producers can meet Japanese firms’ quality standards, the ambassador said at a press conference in Hanoi on September 14 before ending his term in the country.
Japanese manufacturers can buy just 25% of supporting industrial products from Vietnamese firms, while they have to import the rest. Meanwhile, Thailand can meet 65% of their demand, and the rate in India, Indonesia and Malaysian is 45% each
He noted that the auxiliary industry plays a decisive role in the Southeast Asian nation’s economic development in the future.
The outgoing ambassador has recently sent a document to the Vietnamese government to propose 10 measures for the country’s auxiliary industry development.
Sakaba said in the document that many Vietnamese officials even do not understand the difference between developing the supporting industry development and assisting small and medium-sized enterprises.
The supporting industry is related to many ministries and agencies, thus, Vietnam should appoint a certain one to take main responsibility for it.
He urged the local government to cooperate with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japanese businesses’ associations to work out an action plan for the supporting industry. (thanhnien.com.vn)
Vietnamese
