President Truong Tan Sang on March 6 received a delegation of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) who visited Vietnam to boost cooperation in the fields of aviation, transportation, nuclear power and mining.

The federation’s chairman Yonekura Hiromasa emphasised that this visit is an important opportunity for representatives of leading Japanese economic groups to discuss their proposals with Vietnamese State and Party leaders.

Praising Vietnam ’s success in the process of industrialisation and modernisation, Hiromasa said he thinks Vietnam should pay more attention to developing support industries. He affirmed that Japanese enterprises are poised to share expertise in human resources training, infrastructure development and technology with Vietnam .

He said Vietnam should try new partnership models such as Public-Private Partnership and more effectively implement projects in prioritised fields.

Hirosama noted that Japan is one of the leading economies in the world, so the country’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership will help increase the cooperative potential and the attractiveness of this economic partnership. He said Japan will appreciate Vietnam ’s support during its bid for membership.

Welcoming the Japanese economic giants, Sang spoke highly of the role of the Keidanren, and in particular the Vietnam-Japan Economic Committee, in boosting the trade and investment partnership between the two countries.

He said with the flow of Official Development Assistance from Japan to Vietnam , the economic ties between the two countries will continue to grow. The federation should help encourage more enterprises to invest in Vietnam in the fields of high-technology, infrastructure, human resources training and the environment.

Sang affirmed Vietnam would continue to create favourable conditions for Japanese enterprises to invest in Vietnam . Vietnam pledged to support Japan ’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The same day, Sang received the business delegation of Ceylon Chamber Commerce from Sri Lanka , whose visit was intended to boost the economic and trade partnership between the two countries.

The President welcomed the Sri Lanka businessmen seeking opportunities in Vietnam . He said the two sides should implement the agreements signed by the countries’ presidents during state visits in 2009 and 2011.

Both commerce chambers should exchange more information on the opportunities available and use the strengths of each side to boost two-way trade to the target of 1 billion USD, Sang said.

He said Vietnam is willing to share its experience in attracting foreign investment and believes that with a sound investment climate and political stability, Sri Lanka will be able to draw larger investment in the future.

Chairman of the Sri Lanka-Vietnam Business Council Anton Godfrey said the purpose of the visit is to engage in direct exchange, to seek opportunities for importing Vietnamese goods and to expand the cooperation in investment between the two countries.