The Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently held a seminar on “Review of two-year implementation of the Vietnam Industrialisation Strategy in the framework of Vietnam-Japan Cooperation to 2020, with a vision to 2030, and worked out action plans in 2016 of the Steering Committee of the Strategy. The event was an opportunity for Vietnamese authorities and Japanese investors and partners to seek out optimal cooperation strategies for the upcoming time.
CIEM Vice President Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, Head of the Industrialisation and Strategy Task Force, said, after two years of implementing of the Industrialisation and Strategy, Vietnam still faces inherent shortcomings in the economy. Specifically, it is yet to draw the active participation of enterprises, lacks resources to support the deployment of action plans and lacks effect coordination and cooperation of governmental agencies. Experts proposed packages of solutions to more effectively implement the Industrialisation Strategy by mobilising external resources, proposing Japan to provide further active support for Vietnam to carry out the Industrialisation Strategy.
Mr Masaaki Toma, Counsellor of the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, said that this is an important time when Vietnam continues to step into the next five-year plan in the 10-year strategy (2011- 2020). In building and developing Vietnam’s economy, industrial development is still one of the most important factors as it helps the Government of Vietnam to carry out its sustainable and stable economic development and enhance competitiveness.
Among ministries included into the Vietnam - Japan Industrialisation Cooperation Strategy, the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam said that it has carried out a number of tasks in recent years like drafting the formation of three shipbuilding clusters and building core businesses of the industry. However, as in the world, Vietnam's shipbuilding industry is experiencing many difficulties due to global economic slowdown. Vietnamese shipbuilders are fraught with restructuring progress and facing a lot of difficulties in seeking new orders. But, the ministry reaffirmed that transport projects funded by Japan are all big projects and play positive roles in promoting economic development. Recent typical projects include Nhat Tan Bridge, Terminal T2 in Noi Bai international Airport, and Nhat Tan - Noi Bai Highway. Blueprint projects, expected to be carried out soon, are Long Thanh International Airport, the purchase of MRJ commercial aircraft by Mitsubishi Corporation, and air traffic flow management (AFTM).
A representative from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam said the environmental industry and energy-saving industry will be supported for development in the future and related support mechanism, policies and operations will be completed as schedule. Besides, regarding automobile and parts industry, the ministry has completed adjusting taxes and fees applied to automobiles and automotive development. The ministry is considering and adjusting taxes on automotive parts and components under Vietnam - Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) and Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA).
Remarkably, agriculture - a field that both Vietnam and Japan have rich potential advantages for development cooperation - is a field of effective cooperation. A representative from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam presented a assessment report on progress and results of implementing the Action Plan for agricultural and fishery sector and proposed regular information exchanges between both sides. The ministry also appreciated the bilateral high-level dialogue mechanism for agriculture and the two countries signed medium- and long-term agricultural cooperation in September 2015 during the Japan visit by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong in September 2015. Specifically, action plans in the agricultural sector will help Vietnam to enhance food value chains, from production stages like improving productivity and added value of agricultural products, to processing, product development, distribution and storage to set up agricultural supply chains for high-quality products. The two nations can strengthen agricultural cooperation at the backdrop of climate change, especially in the Mekong Delta region, and high-quality human resources training for Vietnam.
Taking on opinions from Vietnamese officials, Mr Toma said that the Government, investors and companies of Japan will try more to promote Vietnam's Industrialisation Strategy and will provide additional data about supporting industries in 2016. However, he also suggested that Vietnam have good plans to work with Japan to obtain better results in the coming time.
As a commitment to Japanese investors, Dr Nguyen Thi Tue Anh hoped that Vietnamese authorities will soon complete the report on Action Plan in 2016 to find directions and methods to carry out Vietnam - Japan Industrialisation Strategy in the coming years to get higher economic performances.
Anh Phuong
Vietnamese
