Mr Yoshihiko Nakagaki, Vice Chairman of the International Friendship Exchange Council of Japan (FEC), led a 19-member business delegation of Japan to pay a visit to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in Hanoi.
At the meeting, VCCI President Vu Tien Loc said Vietnam always sees Japan as a strategic partner and looks forward to receiving further cooperation of the Government and people of Japan, especially in economic, trade and investment fields.
He said Vietnam is very keen on high-tech agricultural investment and hoped Japanese firms will invest significantly in this field. Although Vietnam has a lot of advantages in the export of agricultural commodities such as rice, potato, cassava and tea, the preservation, processing or reproduction of high-yield varieties are underdeveloped. Hence, Vietnam desperately needs the investment of advanced technologies in these stages. In addition, Vietnam hopes to cooperate with Japanese industrial companies engaged in engineering, automobile and machinery which are now strong advantages of Japan.
Yoshihiko Nakagaki said a lot of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are eager to seek investment opportunities in foreign markets, especially developing countries like Vietnam.
Dr Loc said the Government of Vietnam is now determined to push up the progress of settling administrative procedures for foreign companies, like reducing the time for business establishment producers by a half. Therefore, some issues that Japanese companies are concerned about, as well as their complaints about administrative procedures, business establishment, payroll and overtime working, will be recorded for recommendations to the Prime Minister.
In recent years, Japan has become the leading partner of Vietnam in many areas, ranging from trade, economy, investment and ODA to culture, education and tourism.
According to statistics, in 2013 alone, Japan’s pledged investment in Vietnam exceeded US$5.6 billion. This was a very impressive figure. In trade, in the face of the yen weakened to the US dollar, the two-way trade still reached US$25 billion. Japan is one of the most important export markets of Vietnam.
In 2013, Japan was the fourth biggest trade partner of Vietnam. The East Asian nation was the second biggest export market and the third biggest import market of Vietnam.
The cooperation between Vietnam and Japan has also thrived in other fields like tourism and education.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
