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Vietnam needs technology to access Japan market
Vietnamese businesses should prepare to receive advanced technology from Japan so that their products can do better in the Japanese market, says Vu Van Trung, the trade counselor to Japan.
Trung says Vietnamese exports to Japan will not be influenced much by the global financial crisis.
Last year exports to Japan hit US$6.2 billion, making Japan the second biggest importer of Vietnamese goods after the US. Trung expects the figure this year to increase to $8.4 billion.
But Vietnamese businesses have to try harder as their goods now face tough competition from Chinese products, he says.
“The market in Japan is currently dominated by Chinese goods and Vietnamese products hold a very small market share.”
He notes that Chinese exports to Japan are promoted better and are more competitive in terms of prices and quality.
“The most important thing I want to emphasize here is that there are now tens of thousands of Japanese businesses operating in China. They transfer their technologies to Chinese companies, which will then manufacture products and sell them to Japanese consumers.”
While their Chinese counterparts have taken full advantage of the technology transfer trend, Vietnamese businesses have not, Trung emphasizes.
Japan has planned to choose another Asian country, in addition to China, to transfer its production technologies to, Trung says, adding that “I expect that country to be Vietnam.”
In order to be ready for this opportunity, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will organize a conference in December to promote trade with Japan and urge local businesses to attract and develop more high-tech projects, Trung said.
However, it is also important to note that the other side of technology transfer is that developed countries tend to transfer technologies that are outdated or in the process of becoming obsolete.
Vietnam should know how to choose the most suitable technologies from Japan, Trung says, noting that Japanese businesses often transfer their technologies to Vietnam when they themselves switch to more advanced ones.
Trade between Japan and Vietnam will rise to $16 billion this year from $12.2 billion in 2007, the Dau Tu newspaper reported last month, citing an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Thanhnien
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