Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets Japanese businesses

Since the two countries established diplomatic ties 44 years ago, Japan has become one of Vietnam’s top partners. Vietnam and Japan upgraded their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2009 and signed a joint statement on establishing an extensive strategic partnership in 2014. During an official visit to Japan in 2015, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a “Statement on the joint vision of the Vietnam-Japan relationship”.

Enhancing economic cooperation

Japan is currently Vietnam’s 2^nd biggest investor and 4^th biggest trading partner. It was the first G7 country to recognize Vietnam’s market economy status. Bilateral trade has increased from 9.9 billion USD in 2006 to 30 billion USD. New free trade agreements signed or about to be signed will stimulate more trade between them. The two countries are signatories to the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

Japanese investment in Vietnam has been increasing steadily. A recent survey showed that 53% of Japanese enterprises mentioned Vietnam in their investment plans, 5% more than last year. The two countries hope to raise two-way trade to 60 billion USD by 2020.

Vietnam’s extensive economic reform and restructuring are offering more opportunities for investors, particularly in merging and equitization of state-owned enterprises along with infrastructure development, small businesses, transportation, and telecommunications, agriculture, SMEs, and support industries. Yuchi Akai, CEO of Daiwa Security, said: “We have a new fund for investment in Vietnam and have mobilized a large sum of capital. We connect Vietnamese and Japanese investors, particularly those involving in dairy production and banking."

During Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Japan, the largest bilateral business forum will be held attended by 1,500 businesses from the two countries. Prime Minister Phuc will deliver a message affirming Vietnam’s determination to create a transparent, open, and favorable business environment. The Prime Minister is scheduled to meet Japan’s leading economic groups in banking, finance, technology, manufacturing, and computer science. Following a meeting with the Prime Minister on Sunday, Mr. Toshifumi Wantanabe, President of the J-Power Group, said: “Our company plays an important role in the Japanese economy. With our experience, we can support Vietnam in technology and investment. We hope this meeting will result in closer bilateral investment cooperation.”

During Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit, leaders of Vietnamese localities will sign cooperative agreements with Japanese partners worth a billion USD.

Demonstrating Vietnam’s role in responding to regional challenges

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be the keynote speaker at the opening session in Tokyo of the International Conference on the Future of Asia. Under the theme “Globalism at a crossroads - Asia’s next move”, the conference will draw 400 government leaders, business executives, and economists. The Prime Minister will reaffirm Vietnam’s commitment to peace, stability, and development in the region and its potential for foreign investors.