Keidanren Chairman Believes in Vietnam's Economic Development Prospect

3:34:56 PM | 3/13/2006

On February 27, 2006, a Japanese economic delegation, led by Okuda Hiroshi, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and the co-chairman of the Vietnam-Japanese Economic Committee, paid a visit to Vietnam in order to promote the co-operative ties between the two countries. On this occasion, Okuda Hiroshi had an interview with the local press about his visit.

This is your final visit to Vietnam as chairman of Nippon Keidanren, what do you think when organising this visit?

I chose Vietnam as the destination for my final visit as chairman of Nippon Keidanren. Twenty years ago, I was very interested in the Vietnamese human resources as I knew that Vietnamese people are intelligent and diligent. Vietnam has abundant human resources and I thought that Vietnam would become an attractive destination for investors. As we have thought, Vietnam's economic development is very good. After our talks with the Vietnamese leaders, I firmly believe in Vietnam's economic development prospect. I think that in the future, Vietnam will have an important position in Southeast Asia.

Even though Vietnam's infrastructure, hardware and software need further improvement, for investors, the biggest development orientation is human resources development, especially human resources for science and technology, which will contribute to Vietnam's economic growth as a driving force. After my meetings with Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, the two parties reviewed good economic ties between the two countries and Japanese enterprises believe further in friendship and co-operation between Japan and Vietnam.

What do you think about the meaning of the visit and the role of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Economic Committee in settling economic issues?

After arriving in Vietnam, we had meetings with the Party and State leaders, and officials from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and paid a visit to the Thang Long industrial park, the Canon factory, Toyota and the Phu My electric power plant. On this occasion, Keidanren will promote its activities, thus contributing to developing Vietnam-Japan economic ties.

To address concrete economic issues within the Japan-Vietnam relations, the Japan-Vietnam Economic Committee has planned to organise a Japan-Vietnam economic seminar in Japan or Vietnam in late this year or early next year. The achievements and issues discussed during my visit will be reviewed in the seminar.

Some disputes between workers and employers in Japanese enterprises in Dong Nai. What do you think about the issue and experience of Japan in settling disputes between employers and employees?

I have heard about the incident. I think that employers and employees should meet each other to discuss ways to settle their disputes. I wish that the Vietnamese State will have measures to settle the issue. I am optimistic about a good settlement of the issue. Disputes between employers and their employees are indispensable during economic development of any country and each country has its own experience in settling the disputes. Japan had to deal with the issue in the 1950s and 1960s when its economy saw a rapid development. During the fights, many people were injured and some people in union organisations lost their lives. I think there is no way to address the issue completely. However, opportunities should be created for employers and employees to meet each others and discuss ways to settle their disputes.