A steering committee for Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy will be set up as part of a cooperation agreement with Japan by 2020, according to a recent decision by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Under the strategy approved by the PM in 2013, six industries will be prioritised for development in Vietnam as key to the national economy: electronics, agricultural machinery, agricultural and seafood processing, ship building, the environment and energy conservation and manufacturing cars and spare parts.

Producing electronic components.

The industries are said to be able to stimulate domestic and foreign investment, especially from Japanese enterprises and spread ‘technological seeds' to other industries and the economy in general.

The steering committee for the strategy will be led by Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai while Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh will act as Deputy Head.

The committee will also consist of the Minister of the Information and Communications, deputy ministers of eight other ministries, and a vice chairman of the Government Office. Meanwhile, guest members will include the Japanese Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam.

The committee is tasked with helping the PM direct ministries, sectors and localities to design and implement relevant action plans, mechanisms and policies.

It is also assigned to cooperate with Japan to promote Japanese investment in the six prioritised industries while working with authorised agencies to tackle obstacles and monitor and evaluate the strategy realisation.

In the first seven months of 2015, Japan was the fifth largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam with 176 new and 82 expanded projects with combined capital of 716 million USD, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Source: VNA