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Quang Ninh urges Japanese firms to invest more
A seminar has been held in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, to call for a larger flow of Japanese investment into Vietnam’s north-eastern province of Quang Ninh.
Co-hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Japanese bank Mizuho, the seminar brought together 200 representatives of Japanese companies.
Abe Hiroshi, Director of the Mizuho Bank’s International Relations Division, said that Vietnam is an attractive destination for Japanese investors thanks to its “political stability, abundant, high-quality workforce” and a large consumer demand for foreign goods.
Vietnam is planning to build an expressway and a high-speed railway to connect the North and the South, said Abe, adding that the expansion of the country’s traffic network will improve its competitiveness and foster its economic development.
Vietnam’s connectivity to markets in southern China could also create a new opportunity for the Vietnamese market, he said.
Hiroshi told the participants that the flow of Japanese investment into Vietnam has grown since the beginning of 2010, following a cut in overseas investment by Japanese firms due to the adverse impacts of the global financial crisis.
Vice Chairwoman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee, Nhu Thi Hong Lien, said that the province always regards Japanese investors as important partners for joint-working in projects to develop the province’s infrastructure and industrial parks, manufacturing technology, supporting industries, tourist services and trade.
Lien said that Japan has become the biggest provider of official development assistance (ODA) to Quang Ninh, with a total committed capital of 300 million USD. Japan currently has six FDI projects in the province capitalised at 11.3 million USD.
Regarding trade and tourism, Lien noted that Quang Ninh’s exports to the world’s second largest economy have grown steadily, reaching 84.6 million USD in 2009, while the number of Japanese tourists to the province has increased over the past years, with 38,200 last year alone.
However, Lien stressed “these results have yet to equal the province’s full potential, advantages and development needs” and called upon Japanese businesses to invest more in the electronics industry, high technology, infrastructure development, energy and seafood processing.
VIETNAMPLUS
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