VJES Strengthening Bilateral Ties for New Era

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and the Nikkei Business Publications (Nikkei BP) with the support of the Vietnam - Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Caucus, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) organised the Vietnam - Japan Economic Summit 2013 (VJES) in Hanoi with the attendance of nearly 400 delegates and speakers.

 

Dr Vu Tien Loc, VCCI President, said that this forum laid emphasis on “proposing future economic cooperation expansion orientations while creating the foundation for connecting businesses and updating investment and business opportunities and cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Japan. The forum also provided opportunities for businesses of both nations to directly talk with government officials and branch leaders."

 

VJES’s main contents were three theme-based sessions, namely Vietnam - Japan cooperation in infrastructure development; Vietnam’s industrialisation and supporting industry strategy; and human resources development - Key to manufacturing industry development.

 

Besides, the summit delegation, comprising Mr Arata Takebe, a representative of Vietnam - Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Caucus; Mr Yasuaki Tanizaki, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam; Dr Vu Tien Loc, VCCI President, and Dr Daisuke Hiratsuka, JETRO Vice President, paid a courtesy visit to State President Truong Tan Sang.

 

During the event, participants also visited exhibition booths by companies from both countries. Also, VJES organised a field trip to industrial parks in Vinh Phuc province and Bac Ninh Mapletree Logistics Complex.

 

Forty years after diplomatic relations were established, Japan has become an important economic partner of Vietnam. Currently, Japan is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam. In 2011, 234 new projects invested by Japanese companies were licensed in Vietnam and 317 projects were licensed in 2012. In 2011, Japan-invested FDI projects accounted for 25 percent of the total FDI projects in Vietnam. In 2012, the figure doubled to 50 percent. Japan is also the largest ODA donor for Vietnam. More than 70 percent of Japanese ODA is used for infrastructure development projects such as infrastructure, transportation or power plants. Japanese investment in Vietnam also generates employment. For example, more than 100 Japanese manufacturing companies at the Hanoi-based Thang Long Industrial Park employed more than 60,000 Vietnamese workers.

 

Professor To Huy Rua, Head of Organisation Commission of Vietnam Communist Party Central Committee and Head of Vietnam - Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Caucus, said: “The two economies have been, and will be, mutually supporting and complementing each other. Vietnam is not only a long-term investment destination for Japanese companies, but also a trusted friend and partner of Japanese people.”

Mr Yasuaki Tanizaki, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, said: "In economic cooperation relations, investment-driven cooperation is one of the key factors to strengthen and tighten overall economic ties. As an industrialised country with powerful financial and technological capacity, Japan always looks for international investment opportunities. With increased investments from Japan, Vietnam will be supported to develop more strongly and Japan thus can go with the development of Vietnam.”

Vietnam is ready to create favourable conditions to promote cooperation among enterprises of the two countries. I hope that Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises will be an effective bridge for the two economies to promote their strengths, complement and support each other. Businesses will play a leading role in uplifting the level of economic, commercial and investment cooperation between the two countries, thus contributing to consolidating and developing the traditionally fine cooperation relations between Vietnam and Japan.

 

In the process of State-owned enterprise restructuring in Vietnam, the Government has decided to restructure all production, business and commercial sectors, including six key cooperation fields in Vietnam - Japan Industrialisation Strategy Scheme (electronics, agricultural machinery, agricultural and aquatic processing, shipbuilding, environment and energy conservation, and automobile and parts manufacturing).

 

As for Japanese financial investors, the SOE restructuring process will be an opportunity for Japanese companies to provide financial services for Vietnamese enterprises to implement restructuring plans. Especially in bad debt settlement, the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam are presently receiving advice and support from Japan’s JICA for building institutions, processes and implementing institution models.