Japanese firms look to promote investment in Da Nang city

Tokyo (VNA) - More than 120 Japanese businesses attended a workshop in Tokyo on November 12 to study investment opportunities in Vietnam’s central Da Nang city.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong told the businesses that Da Nang has topped the country’s provincial competitiveness and information-communication technology index for years.

He pledged that the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan will provide across-the-board assistance to the Japanese businesses.

Former Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam cum Director of Vietnam Economic Research Institute, Yushita Hiroyuki, raised the fact that Japanese businesses had once concentrated more on the northern and southern parts of Vietnam than the central region.

However, in recent years, Japanese companies are keen to explore the investment climate in the central region, especially Da Nang – which lies at the end of the East-West economic corridor connecting Myanmar, Thailand, Laos with the East Sea.

With its favourable geographical position, Da Nang could serve as a logistics destination and effectively support Vietnamese northern and southern parts alike, he said.

The city also is a magnet for tourists as it is blessed with world heritage sites and beautiful beaches, he added.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Huynh Duc Tho committed to creating all favourable conditions for Japanese investors to study trade opportunities in the city.

During the workshop, Japanese businesses were introduced to the city’s urban and socio-economic development orientations and hi-tech parks as well as seaports and airports, and the wage policy for workers and land lease.

Earlier, Tho worked with President of the H.I.S Group Hirabayashi Akira who said Da Nang will become a direct rival to China’s Hainan island, Indonesia’s Bali, and even Japan’s Okinawa in the near future.

The President revealed that his group plans to invest in 10 hotels in Vietnam and hopes that Da Nang will play a key role in the plan.

He pledged to push ahead with the launching of the Osaka – Da Nang direct air route and opening more charter flights between Da Nang and other Japanese localities.-VNA