The visiting Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Nippon Keidanren) highly appreciated Vietnam’s efforts in creating favorable conditions for foreign investors and wishes for Vietnam-Japan economic and political relations to be further enhanced.
The Nippon Keidanren delegation headed by its president Hiroshi Okuda is on a five-day visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai with an aim to boost trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Hiroshi Okuda said at a press conference in Hanoi on February 28 that Vietnamese leaders are determined to do their best to further improve Vietnam’s investment environment and that Japanese investors consider Vietnam a very attractive destination.
He added that Japan applauds the initiative given by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to establish the Vietnam-Japan Business Forum. Hiroshi Okuda said Vietnam would play a key role in ASEAN and in the region as a whole in the coming time.
Early of the same day the Japanese delegation met with Vietnamese Party Chief Nong Duc Manh, President Tran Duc Luong, Prime Minister Khai, and Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc.
Party Chief Manh emphasized that Vietnam attaches great importance to enhancing multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, especially in the field of economics. Manh also affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State would continue creating more favorable conditions for Japanese investors in the coming time.
Manh said Vietnam has been using Japanese assistance and cooperation in developing its infrastructure and improving the investment environment. He also called on Okuda to make efforts to increase Japanese investment in sectors centering on agriculture.
Okuda expressed the federation's readiness to support Vietnam's structural reforms during a meeting with Minister Vo Hong Phuc.
The Vietnamese officials expressed their belief that Japan would become the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam in the near future.
In Hanoi, the delegation also toured some Japanese-invested factories in the Thang Long Industrial Park.
From March 1, the Japanese delegation will leave Hanoi for Ho Chi Minh City to meet with representatives of Japanese firms in Vietnam’s principal commercial hub and visit Phu My power complex in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
Vietnam and Japan already signed the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative and the Vietnam-Japan Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement. The two sides hope to reach a bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the near future. The two countries implemented the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative on improving the business environment since 2003.
Japan is Vietnam's biggest provider of official development assistance (ODA). In the first two months of this year, Japan became the second largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 35 projects capitalized at US$279.7 million, after South Korea.
The two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Japan was US$8 billion in 2005, in which Vietnam exported US$4.5 billion worth of products to Japan, up over 18 per cent on-year and accounting for 14.5 per cent of Vietnam’s total export turnover.
The two countries expect bilateral trade revenues to reach US$9-9.5 billion this year and exceed US$10 billion in 2007.
B.T
Vietnamese
