A seminar was held in Hanoi on June 22 to discuss measures to attract Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to invest in developing support industries in Vietnam .

Co-organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the seminar took place in the context where support industry development in Vietnam is attracting interest among domestic and foreign investors, especially those from Japan and the Republic of Korea .

Speaking at the event, MPI Deputy Minister Dang Huy Dong said that Vietnam plans to build a modern and industrialised economy and focuses on calling for investment in developing hi-tech industries.

The Vietnamese Government will develop SMEs, improve business competitiveness and increase added value for products towards joining the world’s high-value product chain while boosting the development of support industries, he said.

According to Ryoichi Nakagawa, Director of the Investment Support Centre of Japan, Vietnam is a potential market with low labour costs and more business opportunities from free trade agreements.

However, he said that Vietnam ’s foreign investment encouragement policies should pay more attention to support industries. The country also needs to attach import to policies on developing industrial clusters.

According to MPI, Vietnam had 15 economic zones and over 260 industrial zones (IZs). Of the IZs, 173 have become operational./.