Vietnam Investment Conference welcoming Prime Minister Phuc

October 2018

On the occasion of a visit to Japan by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on October 10, JETRO jointly held the Vietnam Investment Conference with Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment under the theme of "The Dynamic Mekong Region: Asia’s New Value Chain Hub." This was the second investment conference with top Vietnamese leaders this year following a visit to Japan by the late Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in May. The conference was joined by approximately 1,000 people from business and government circles of both countries, indicating the same great interest in doing business in Vietnam that was seen in the previous conference.

In his keynote speech Prime Minister Phuc introduced the attractiveness of the Vietnamese investment environment and his vision toward future industrial development in his own words. He particularly expressed high hopes for Japanese companies to invest into the fields of infrastructure development and startups. In the panel session, a discussion took place regarding activities for business expansion in the local market and cultivation of human resources between Vietnamese Planning and Investment Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, Vietnamese Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs Deputy Minister Doan Mau Diep and representatives from Japanese companies. During the discussion, Minister Dung stressed that local companies and Japanese companies in Vietnam have to further strengthen partnership.

As a part of a recovery support program for the Kansai International Airport, which was severely damaged by Typhoon No. 21 this September, an announcement was also made by Vietnam’s leading private aviation company, Viet Jet Air, that it would open new routes, including between Osaka and Hanoi on November 8 and Osaka and Ho Chi Minh City on December 14.

The conference also featured a ceremony in which permission for new investment into Vietnam was granted and memorandums of cooperation for investment by Japanese companies were exchanged. In all, 20 projects were officially announced equaling a total investment value of 10 billion USD.

In a networking reception held after the conference, Vietnamese and Japanese business people seeking potential for future business collaboration engaged in active exchange.

Held in the milestone year of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan and the 30th anniversary of the enforcement of the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam, JETRO will take advantage of the opportunity presented by this conference to bolster efforts in strengthening partnership between the two countries in terms of trade and investment.