Prime Minister hosts Japanese businesses, Bulgaria minister

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a delegation of Japanese businesses led by Yoichi Kobayashi, Chairman of the Mekong-Japan Business Cooperation Committee from the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in Hanoi on October 18.

The PM said Vietnam is refining a number of policies on opening the economy, and has joined new-generation bilateral and multilateral agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership to which Japan is a member.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and JCCI Chairman Yoichi Kobayashi

The host pledged to direct agencies to deal with issues regarding taxation, customs, retail, distribution and import of secondhand machines as proposed by the Japanese side.

He asked the JCCI to work closely with Vietnamese agencies to launch an action plan to promote priority industries set in the Vietnam-Japan industrialisation strategy, and well perform the sixth and next stages of the joint initiatives.

The JCCI was also urged to continue supporting Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises investing in Vietnam, especially in the priority fields of electricity, electronics, agricultural machines, agro-fisheries processing, shipbuilding, environment, and automobile manufacturing.

Kobayashi, for his part, said the visiting firms want to learn about business opportunities in trade, services, aviation in Vietnam.

He told the host that during the visit, the Mekong-Japan Business Cooperation Committee suggested a number of ideas to improve business climate in Vietnam as well as asked for clearing difficulties met by Japanese investors.

The guest described the establishment of Vietnam-Japan University in Hanoi as a step to boost workforce training cooperation with Vietnam, especially in industry.

Japan is currently the largest supplier of official development assistance to Vietnam and the second largest investor in the country with more than 3,000 projects worth 42 billion USD.

On the day, the PM also received visiting Bulgaria Economic Minister Bojidar Loukarsky, during which he expressed his hope that the two countries will step up economic cooperation, trade and services transactions and investments.

The Vietnamese Government supports Bulgaria businesses’ long-term operation in Vietnam, he noted.

Minister Bojidar Loukarsky told his host that economic ties between Bulgaria and Vietnam is below their potential and that his working visit aimed to address the issue.

In 2015, trade value between Bulgaria and Vietnam hit 102.5 million USD, expanding 28.2 percent from 2014), and exceeding the 100 million USD/year level for the first time.

By August, 2016, the value was 96.7 million USD, a 88 percent surge on year.