Appealing Japanese Businesses

While the country is witnessing a considerable drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) because of global and regional economic downturn, Hai Phong emerges as an ideal destination for Japanese investors. Heza recently handed an investment certificate to Nipro Pharma Vietnam Co., Ltd of Japan, which registered to invest US$250 million to make drugs and medical devices for export in VSIP Hai Phong. Two months earlier, Bridgestone Group, also from Japan, decided to invest US$575 million to build an automobile and aircraft tyre production project in Dinh Vu Industrial Park. A series of other projects with registered investment capital amounting to hundreds of millions of US dollars have been licensed since last year.

 

Hai Phong City has become the top choice of Japanese investors because the port city gathers all best conditions, particularly frequent visits by Japanese businesspeople and statesmen. Besides, the Government of Vietnam is carrying out many key national projects in the city to create development momentums for the northern region.

 

Dinh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone with special incentives stipulated by the Government will help investors reduce investment and business expenses. The investment environment of Hai Phong is more liberal and more attractive. Most FDI firms in general and Japanese businesses in particular are doing business well in Hai Phong. Meanwhile, the city has a special geographical position: The main seaport of northern Vietnam and a component of “Two corridors, one belt” economic corridor with China” where offers a lot of potentials and opportunities for development.

 

Notably, investment projects are in line with the city’s direction, like environment-friendly, high-tech projects, industrial zone infrastructure projects, and seaport projects. In the year to date, Bridgestone and Nipro Pharma Vietnam are the two largest Japanese projects, both using high-tech. The city also licensed many small projects like Zeon Vietnam with US$25 million and Nishina Vietnam withUS$12 million. Japanese investors registered to manufacture metal products, medical equipment, telecom and electronic products, hydraulic equipment for construction machines and industrial vehicles among others.

 

In the second half of 2013, Kyocera Mita Vietnam registered to invest US$187.5 million in VSIP Hai Phong and expected to bring its production project into operation late this year. Three Japanese investors in cooperation with the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) to inject US$321 million to build two container wharves in Hai Phong International Seaport in Lach Huyen. The project is expected to be kicked off this year.

 

The city is seeing a huge opportunity to catch FDI capital, especially from Japan. However, the city needs to adopt effective measures to deal with shortcomings in industrial zone infrastructure, clear bottlenecks in administrative procedures, and improve human resource quality to attract and absorb the FDI capital in the most effective way.