Japan Ranks Third Among Foreign Investors in Vietnam

Japan is now the third largest foreign investors in Vietnam with 1,019 projects valued at US$16.9 billion, said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung at a seminar held in Hanoi Sept 26.

 

At the seminar to discuss the cooperation opportunities between the two countries, Dung said Japan currently tops among foreign investors in Vietnam in terms of disbursed capital.

 

The seminar attracted the participation of 37 representatives from Japan’s leading companies which arrived in Vietnam to look for business opportunities.

 

Dung added that Vietnam-Japan relations have seen fruitful development, especially since the visits by the two countries’ leaders by late of 2006.

 

He also called on Japanese firms, especially small and medium-sized ones to invest further into Vietnam’s hi-tech, IT, bio-technology, engineering, farm produce processing, seaports and several sectors.

 

Hiroyuki Yoshino, Vice President of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), shared the same view with Deputy Minister Dung, saying that Japan’s investment in Vietnam is on the rise.

 

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Japan is likely to reach US$16.2 billion this year, exceeding the two countries’ set target of US$15 billion in 2010, said Vietnam News Agency.

 

The two-way trade valued at US$8.1 billion in the first half of this year, up 45.5 per cent on-year. Of the sum, Vietnam’s exports to Japan stayed at US$4.25 billion, up 41.7 per cent while its imports were US$3.9 billion, up 49.8 per cent, resulting in the country’s slight trade surplus of US$350 million during the period. (Vietnam & World Economy, Vietnam Economic Times)