PM's Japan visit expected to create new investment wave

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Japan from June 4-8, Ambassador of Vietnam in Japan, H.E. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, said he hopes the visit will trigger a new wave of Japanese investment in Vietnam, considering the major economic content of the trip.

The PM’s visit and his attendance at the 23rd International Conference on the Future of Asia, hosted by the Nikkei newspaper on June 5-6, will be significant for the Vietnam-Japan relationship, both regionally and globally.

PM Phuc has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the conference’s opening, which demonstrates that the organizing board and Japan attach great importance to the role and voice of Vietnam amid an evolving world, Ambassador Cuong said.

He added that it will also be a great opportunity for the PM to send a message about a Vietnam that is active, proactive, and responsible in regional and international peace, stability, and development, and is integrating intensively into the world, helping to open up new opportunities for cooperation with foreign partners and countries, including those from Japan.

The PM will be accompanied by leaders from ministries, agencies, localities, and major businesses, he added, noting that the visit is therefore likely to create momentum in the Vietnam-Japan relationship.

During the visit, the PM is scheduled to hold talks and meet with his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Emperor Akihito, parliamentary leaders, several prefecture governors, and representatives of major economic groups and small and medium-sized enterprises, which reflect the great interest in Vietnam of not only the central and local administrations but also different circles and socioeconomic organizations, Ambassador Cuong said.

He highlighted that enhancing bilateral economic, trade, and investment ties is a major goal of the visit.

The PM is set to have working sessions with many large Japanese groups in finance, banking, technology, manufacturing, and computers, and will visit the headquarters and production facilities of companies and groups that wish to invest in Vietnam in the time ahead.

He will also meet with leaders of key economic organizations, such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Japan Business Federation (Keidaren), to discuss orientations for cooperation in official development assistance (ODA), trade, and investment between the two countries.

Of particular note, he will attend the Vietnam-Japan Economic Forum, themed “Looking Towards a New Era of Vietnam-Japan Economic Cooperation”. This is the largest-ever business event between the two countries and will be attended by some 1,500 delegates from 1,300 Japanese companies and over 100 Vietnamese businesses.

The forum’s scale mirrors the attention given by the Japanese Government and businesses to the potential for cooperation in business and investment in Vietnam, the Ambassador said.

At the forum, PM Phuc will introduce Vietnam’s increasingly open and transparent business environment and efforts to build a growth-facilitating government.

Ambassador Cuong also noted that Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises and localities are expected to sign many projects and contracts valued in the tens of billions of US dollars during the PM’s visit.