According to reports on Vietnam’s business environment of Japanese investors, up to 58 percent of Japanese enterprises tell that they will expand their investment in Vietnam, 40 percent will maintain their operation and only 1.4 percent have plan to shrink their business here.
A lot of appropriate authorities of Japan have cooperated with Ministries, Departments and localities of Vietnam as well as Vietnamese embassy in Japan to organize seminars to promote investment with an aim to help Japanese enterprises investigate information and opportunities to make investment into Vietnam.
Mr. Saito Nobuo, representative of Japanese – Vietnamese Friendship Association, believes that Japanese enterprises express their feeling of security when investing in Vietnam. According to Japanese enterprises, Vietnam is a nation with stable politics, young population, and an abundant labor force amounting to 84 million citizens. Vietnamese have quite good and equal intellectual level, are intelligent and hard working, have good workmanship and can stand high work pressure. Mr. Nobuo says that Japan praises Vietnam’s economic growth rate during recent time despite the fact its economy is subject to difficulties of the global economic recession. Mr. Nobuo affirms that it is the trading between the two countries’ enterprises that has helped to enhance the good relationship between the two nations.
Among localities which Japanese enterprises are interested in, Hai Phong is the area which attracts the largest number of Japanese enterprises. Chairman of Hai Phong Association of Young Entrepreneurs, Mr. Pham Hong Diep, says that many Japanese enterprises operating in infrastructural construction, industrial zones, bridges, ports and steel, etc. have made successful investment in Hai Phong. Nomura industrial zone, for instance, is the first joint venture industrial zone in Northern Vietnam (between Hai Phong city and Nomura finance group of Japan) to achieve the strategic target of luring large and famous Japanese investors in technology to Vietnam. Up to now, Nomura Hai Phong is assessed to be the most modern and comprehensive industrial park in Vietnam with highest rate of foreign capital attraction (approximately US$5 million/ha). With lots of well-known investors, this industrial zone has created a large source of commodities for export, and especially, this is the major destination for Japanese investors in Hai Phong. The area has an average investment rate of approximately US$7 million per ha, which is very high. It helps generate job for more than 15,000 local labourers (as of 2007) and up to 30,000 ones by 2010…
Besides, Binh Duong is a province which is appealing to a large number of Japanese investors. There are 109 enterprises making investment here, including Japan New Furniture Vietnam Limited Company, Fuji Denso Limited Company, Sundia Binh Duong and ABE Industrial, etc.
However, beside advantages, there still exist many challenges for foreign investors when making investment in Vietnam, including poor infrastructure, traffic system, and cumbersome administrative procedures, etc. Especially, the application of automatic technology in public services in Vietnam is still very weak. However, perhaps this is a large opportunity for investment when the market is still in primary conditions.
Mr. Hiroyuki Yushita, Vice Chairman of Japanese – Vietnamese Cultural and Economic Committee, holds that the relationship with Vietnam is always a priority of Japan and he calls Japanese enterprises for more investment into Vietnam.
Kim Phuong
Vietnamese
