Vietnam and Japan signed an action plan on the joint initiative in Hanoi on July 1, focusing on power, customs procedures, macro-economy, intellectual property, food safety and infrastructure.

The document was the outcome of a meeting of the Joint Committee of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative on the same day where senior officials deliberated measures for the fourth phase of the initiative.

The action plan calls on project or programme executives to take initiative in every steps, from drafting joint concrete measures to exchanging experiences and views, updating progress, consulting each other on measures, and jointly resolving problems.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said the fields mentioned in the action plan have always taken a lot of energy and investment of the Vietnamese Government in order to improve the investment and business climate in the recent past.

“Vietnam-Japan cooperation has contributed an important part to Vietnam ’s global integration in economy, pushing up bilateral investment and trade”, concluded the planning chief.

Japanese Ambassador Yasuaki Tanizaki emphasised that the two sides should strengthen joint efforts in drawing investment from third countries and fully tap potential to push up two-way trade.

“ Japan will focus its aid to Vietnam on building the electric general chart No. 7”, he added.

The Vietnam-Japan joint initiative was raised by the Prime Ministers of the two countries in April, 2003 in an effort to help Vietnam improve its investment and business environment and increase its competitive edge./.