Hai Phong Ready to Welcome Japanese Partners

The target of attracting FDI in 2014 was identified as the city's economic restructuring, positive results in attracting FDI over the years contributed to increasing the proportion of clean technology and high technology, creating large added value. Projects have created thousands of jobs. This is the premise to enhance competitiveness of the city’s economy. A large proportion of FDI came from Japanese investors.

 

Processing and manufacturing sectors continue to be an attraction to Japanese investors with two major projects of environment-friendly car tire factory of Bridgestone Corporation, investment capital of US$575 million and high-tech printer of Fuji Xerox Group, investment capital of US$119 million. Others include production projects of metal products, medical equipment and instruments, telecom and electronic products and accessories; hydraulic equipment for construction machinery and industrial vehicles.

 

Notably, there is a project in drug and medical equipment manufacturing of Nipro Pharma Vietnam Co., Ltd., with registered capital of US$250 million, products exported worldwide. The project uses leading advanced technologies of Nipro Pharma Group and is the first overseas investment, holding a potential for high revenue enhancement.

 

Hai Phong has become the first choice of many Japanese investors, a result of the strategic partnership between the two countries and friendship between the two peoples. It also came from effective investment promotion activities of the leaders of the state and the city as well as the efforts of agencies, departments and businesses. Besides, after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011, Japanese investors tended to invest offshore to reduce disaster risk.

 

There are also some other factors which led many Japanese investors moving from other neighbouring countries to Vietnam. Domestically, Hai Phong has been supported by the government in attracting Japanese FDI, building industrial park for Japanese investors; the city also has built the most favourable mechanisms and preferences for investment in the Dinh Vu-Cat Hai coastal economic zone. This is a “golden” opportunity for Hai Phong to attract Japanese FDI. Besides, Hai Phong is also making efforts to make the investment environment more open and attractive. So far, most FDI businesses in general and Japanese in particular have been operating smoothly in Hai Phong.

 

However, shortcomings and inadequacies in many industrial areas in the city have made a considerable impact on investment attracting, especially Japanese capital. To successfully draw in the tendency of moving production of Japanese investors following the direction of the Prime Minister and the policy of the city, Hai Phong is required to establish an intensive industrial park especially for supporting industry development. Intensive industrial parks serve not only the goal of attracting Japanese small and medium investors, but also encourage enterprises operating in the Vietnam in supporting industry.

 

To attract Japanese investors, Hai Phong should soon decide on the construction site for the intensive industrial park synchronized in technical infrastructure and social infrastructure (both inside and outside the fence of the industrial park). The industrial park should apply modern science and technology, environmentally protected, providing after-sales service and closed maintenance to be able to promptly meet all businesses’ requirements.

 

The connection between the industrial park with highways, ports, airports is also a matter of great interest among Japanese businesses. The small and medium Japanese enterprises are the ones with high technical and technology level, their products mainly are support components for high-tech industries such as electronics, information, health care, automobile manufacturing, manufacturing robotics, shipbuilding so they are looking for a skilled and trained workforce, who is disciplined, the style industry and special favours for labourers in Japanese. Currently, some countries in the region are investing to build industrial urban (similar to the Hai Phong VSIP industrial park and township) with “head to toe” services including: banks, technical infrastructure, telecommunications, information providers, shopping centres, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, restaurants, parks, golf courses, etc, to compete and attract investment from Japan.

 

Through investment promotion and receiving business delegations to explore investment opportunities, Japanese partners expected Vietnam to accelerate the simplification of administrative procedures, considering the deployment of “one stop shop” service in Japanese at existing industrial parks. If possible, the city should also consider setting up a “one stop shop” trade office in Japan to make it easier for Japanese businesses to make contact and get information about investing in Hai Phong. Japanese firms could complete registration procedures for investment in Hai Phong from Japan and in Japanese.

 

To create a favourable environment to attract Japanese partners, Hai Phong is preparing premises for production, accelerating the construction and upgrading of infrastructure systems (Ha Noi - Hai Phong high-speed motorways, Cat Bi airport, Hai Phong international gateway port in Lach Huyen, Tan Vu - Cat Hai road, Dinh Vu - Cat Hai Bridge), power and supply; encouraging the development of vocational training centres by Japanese standards, teaching Japanese language, broadcasting Japanese news on Hai Phong Television.

 

On the other hand, the city has proactively proposed to the government to consider some mechanisms and preferences for businesses investing in infrastructure of intensive industries parks (high-tech support industrial parks). Through many different channels, the City People's Committee is actively calling for the government and Japanese economic organizations to partially fund the infrastructure investment, to provide consultancy on infrastructure design supervision for the construction of high-tech support industrial parks and to assist in calling and promoting investment.

 

Duy Binh