The fifth phase of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative, launched to make Vietnam’s investment environment more open and transparent, will get underway between now and December 2014.

At a high-level meeting convened by the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative Committee in Hanoi on July 26, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said the initiative is one of important information channels that engage Japanese investors and the business community in general in policymaking, thus making it easier for their operations.

Japanese Ambassador Tanizaki Yasuaki said the two nations’ relevant agencies will continue working together to share experience and resolve obstacles during the course of implementation.

The two sides will also do all they can to realise the commitments reached in the past, he said.
The Vietnamese side highly valued the assistance that the Japanese partners have offered to Vietnam over the past time, adding that they hope the fifth phase will be a success.

The initiative that includes 27 items and 100 sub-items will cover 13 groups of issues like taxation, customs, intellectual property, infrastructure development and food safety.

In the fourth phase, 286 out of 337 items met schedule.-VNA