(VEN) – Japan has become the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with 1,947 projects totaling US$32.28 billion in registered capital. If Vietnam had a developed support industry it would attract more Japanese investors.
Japanese investment in Vietnam has increased continually in recent years. The country attracted an additional 234 Japanese projects in 2011 and other 317 projects in 2012. According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), in 2012 alone, Japanese investment accounted for 25 and 50 percent of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam in terms of project numbers and registered capital, respectively.
In the first four months of 2013, Vietnam attracted an additional US$3.635 billion in Japanese investment, accounting for 44 percent of all FDI that Vietnam attracted in the same period.
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Chief Representative Hirokazu Yamaoka expected that Japanese investment in Vietnam will continue to increase in 2013 and the following years. He explained that Vietnam and Japan have many similarities and the 40-year Vietnamese-Japanese economic and political relationship has been growing well.
In 2006, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe agreed to develop Vietnamese-Japanese relations into a strategic partnership. In January 2013, the two prime ministers kicked off the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Vietnamese-Japanese diplomatic relations. Bilateral economic relations have been developing. This is proved with the increased number of Japanese companies investing in Vietnam. There are 1,100 Japanese businesses, which are members of the Japan Business Association in Vietnam (JBAV), investing in Vietnam, providing more than 100,000 jobs for Vietnamese people.
Vietnam has a young workforce and a 90 million people plus market. This is a reason why Vietnam remains attractive to Japanese investors.
However, JETRO Chief Representative Hirokazu Yamaoka said that the rate of local content in Vietnam stood at only 28 percent, while in Indonesia it is 43 percent, Thailand 53 percent and in China 61 percent. The underdeveloped support industry sector in Vietnam is greatly hindering the country from attracting foreign investment.
| Support industry development is not only important for attracting Japanese investment but also for becoming an industrialized country. Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that support industries need to become a driving force in the country’s industrialization and modernization and would function as a foundation for developing Vietnam’s key industries on a sustainable basis to 2020./. |
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Countries have encountered fierce competition in FDI attraction and each country is endeavoring to become more competitive. Vietnam needs to construct a more competitive investment environment through developing support industries to attract more FDI from Japan and other countries and territories. Japanese businesses expect the Vietnamese government to make a strong commitment to issuing proper support industry development policies.
Apart from developing support industries, constructing high-grade urban areas and opening schools training in Japanese is necessary to attract more Japanese investors./.
Đăng ký: VietNam News