Vietnam - Japan joint policy forum for investment continues

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung speaks at the meeting to launch the first phase of the Vietnam - Japan joint initiative in the new era. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) - A meeting was held in Hanoi on March 27 to launch the first phase of the Vietnam - Japan joint initiative to promote a forum on investment transparency in the new era.

In his remarks, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said the Vietnam - Japan joint initiative, which began in April 2003, is special cooperation between the two governments.

Via the establishment of a policy dialogue forum between Japanese investors and related Vietnamese ministries and sectors, it has contributed to building a transparent and conducive business climate in the Southeast Asian nation. It has also offered policy recommendations as reference serving the law and policy refinement processes by local agencies.

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio said after two decades, the initiative completed eight phases, with 84% of the workload finished on time, giving a boost to foreign capital inflows in Vietnam, particularly from Japan.

Executive Senior Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Yamada Junichi speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

The Vietnam - Japan joint initiative in the new era consists of five major groups of issues. They involve the promotion of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), digital transformation, strengthening of the supply chain, training of high-quality IT, AI, and semiconductor human resources, and the reform of mechanisms to improve the business climate.

Participating Vietnamese and Japanese delegates agreed that the first phase will last for 19 months, with a mid-term review meeting slated for December this year and a summit to assess the entire process in October 2025.

The sides pledged cooperative efforts and active implementation of commitments in the action plan to meet the set goals, for mutual prosperity of the Vietnamese and Japanese business communities and the enhancement of relations between the two countries.

Fujimoto Masayoshi, who co-chairs the Japan - Vietnam Economic Committee at the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), called the new initiative an important factor to raising added value in the industrial sector, in which the two sides must improve investment quality and continue with personnel training. 

A view of the meeting to launch the first phase of the Vietnam - Japan joint initiative in the new era. (Photo: VNA)

According to Masayoshi, Japanese businesses will further transfer technologies to their Vietnamese partners, thus helping them better export capacity.

Japanese enterprises will also continue to share their experience and knowledge to contribute to energy transition and carbon neutrality in both countries, he said. Keidanren will promote exchanges between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses through its coordination with economic organizations such as the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Executive Senior Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Yamada Junichi touched upon development cooperation between the two countries via official development assistance (ODA).

He stressed that Japan’s ODA to Vietnam has to date reached 3 trillion JPY (19.82 billion USD), mainly in infrastructure, personnel training, law building, and support for the transformation of the market economy.

On the basis of the new initiative, the JICA’s assistance will concentrate on Vietnam’s high-quality growth, he said, noting with the expectation of expanding Vietnam's investment in the seaport network, urban railway, urban environment, renewable energy, and digital transformation, agency will also promote private investment through cooperation in these areas.

As of February 20, Japanese investors had channeled 74.3 billion USD into 5,288 projects in Vietnam. In the first two months of 2024, their registered investment amounted to 422.4 million USD, soaring by 290% year-on-year./.