Delegates at the event marking the 20 years of the annual roundtable conference between Ho Chi Minh City officials and the Japanese business community. (Photo: VNA) Opening the event, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan noted that as of the end of November, there were 3,218 Japanese investment projects in the city with total direct and indirect investment capital topping 7.4 billion USD, accounting for 10.44 percent of total foreign investment in the city.
Hoan said the results are attributable to the city administration’s support of investors in the forms of policies and mechanisms. In particular, the administration has proactively learned about and drastically handled difficulties and obstacles for foreign investors via holding roundtable conferences with the Japanese business community. ’
In her report reviewing 20 years of the roundtable conference, Deputy Director of the Investment & Trade Promotion Center of HCM City (ITPC) Cao Thi Phi Van said the number of Japanese projects in the city had risen from 69 in 1998 to 3,218 in 2021, which is a vivid manifestation of the effectiveness of the 20 roundtable conferences held throughout the years.
Van said such conferences have helped win the trust of the Japanese business community in the city’s commitment to ensuring a stable environment for investment and business, protecting the legitimate rights and interest of investors and facilitating long-term stable and effective operations of Japanese businesses in the city.
Representatives from Japanese businesses said amid the heavy impacts of COVID-19, the city administration has attentively listened to and understood the difficulties of enterprises, thus making correct and timely decisions to help the business community gradually recovery production and business activities.
They expressed their wish that the municipal authorities will continue to eliminate factors that hinder the operations of enterprises, thus strengthening the trustful ties between the administration and the business community, and boosting production and business activities.
Vice Chairman Hoan reiterated the city’s commitment to continued coordination with the Japanese business community. He said the format of following roundtable conferences should be renewed in the direction of increasing mutual interaction and thematic discussion, thus better optimizing the advantages of each side for sustainable cooperative relations./.
VNA
